Chapter 7
German
Fuck! I hated that I’d retreated like that. Left the fight instead of engaging further. But what else could I do? If I hadn’t, I would have bent Maddy over, tugged up her tiny excuse for a robe, and buried my cock to the hilt inside her sweet little pussy.
When she’d begged prettily for me to let her go to dinner and called me “daddy”, I’d nearly stroked out. My dick was so fucking hard right now, I could practically pound nails with it.
Going to the bathroom, I washed my face with cold water to try and cool off. It didn’t work. My cock still wanted inside Maddy in a way I’d never wanted a woman before. Even now, I could feel the precum leaking from the tip in anticipation of getting inside her perfect cunt. I must be a sadist because there was no other word to describe how fucked I was in the head for what I was doing.
What was wrong with me? Why did this girl get so deep under my skin? Her scent. Her beauty. Her wit, all compelled me to get closer. It was a trifecta I just couldn’t get enough of. Like a drug, the more I got of her, the more I wanted.
Today, after we’d left her job, I’d explained how a man should be bold and ask a woman out if he was interested. Now that bitch karma was paying me back for my smart mouth. Fucking Christ! I was stuck taking the girl I wanted to bang harder than a drum out on a date with another man! This was some next-level irony I just wasn’t prepared for.
Leaning back, I glanced in the mirror and scowled. I wasn’t the type of guy a girl like Maddy got involved with. Sure, they might like to fuck me, but they didn’t bring me home to their parents. And usually, I was good with that. Still, the thought of Nathan taking Maddy out to dinner, driving her around, placing his hand on her thigh, then spreading those perfect legs later on in the evening, made me want to commit murder.
My phone rang then and I dragged it out of my pocket. It was my Brother Pipe calling, probably wanting to talk about how I was settling into my duties.
Thankful for the distraction, I answered it. “Pipe, what’s up, Brother?”
“Just checking in on you, German. Reaper wanted an update on the situation,” Pipe said.
“Unfortunately, there’s not much to report so far.” Walking back into the bedroom, I sat down on a chair that faced the balcony. “It’s all been pretty quiet around here. It can’t hurt that daddy’s little girl is being followed by a detective and a biker every step she takes,” I quipped humorlessly.
“So the cops are still sniffing around?”
“Yup, though the douchebag is keeping a low profile now that I’m in the picture.”
Pipe laughed. “I’m sure that would give anyone pause, Brother. Still, I don’t think whoever did this has given up on their plans of abduction. My money says they’ll try again the first opportunity they get.”
That was also my guess. “I’ll just have to make sure I don’t give them an opportunity then.”
“I’m sure you won’t,” Pipe said. “How’s the girl to work with? Is she giving you any trouble?”
Not sure how to even qualify my relationship with Maddy, I let the phone go silent for a few seconds. “She’s not half bad. Sure, she’s spoiled and has everything she wants, but she isn’t a brat.” At least, not in a bad way, I thought to myself.
Pipe sounded amused when he said, “I see.”
Miffed, I asked, “What does that mean?”
“Nothing,” Pipe sagely returned, but I could still hear the smile in his voice. “Did you get the girl’s phone so I could run some diagnostics on it?”
Damn it! I’d meant to do that when we’d gotten home from Maddy’s volunteer work this morning, but it stupidly slipped my mind after I’d seen her in that short, silky robe. “I’ll get it today, along with her list of enemies.”
“Sounds good,” Pipe said. “Why don’t you drop it by the Clubhouse when you have a chance and bring Maddy along when you come. Introduce her to some of the Old Ladies.”
I frowned. “Why would I do that?”
This time, Pipe let the line go quiet on his end. “Just in case things go south and you might have to leave her with the Club to take care of business. It wouldn’t be the first time a woman needed protection like that from the Devils. If that happens, she won’t feel so isolated.”
That was true. I’d definitely consider it when the time came. “Any news on who might be behind the attack on Framingham’s secretary yet?”
“Not yet. After a deeper dive into the man’s history, I think my old pal hasn’t been exactly honest about what sorts of technology his business has been developing. It looks like he’s been dappling in some black market shit. Because of that, his enemy list is fucking long and complicated. It would take the CIA a goddamned year to get through it even if they were functioning at top speed.”
I snorted. “Does that mean you’ll be done poring through it by the end of the week?”
Pipe chuckled. “Give me two. I want to be thorough.”
“Slacker,” I joked, running a hand through my short beard.
“If you need anything,” Pipe said, “let me know.”
“Same,” I returned, before signing off and hanging up.
* * *
Maddy
I couldn’t decide what to wear. I kept ripping things out of my closet, trying them on, deciding they weren't the right vibe I was going for, then discarding them onto the floor in a disgusted heap.
When I was afraid that I was running dangerously low on time, I got serious and whittled my options down to two garments. A floral print dress and the ultimate LBD. I settled on the little black dress, as it was very flattering and went well with my hair and skin tone.
Not wanting to overdo it, I went light on the makeup, only playing up the blue of my eyes with a complimentary toasted brown eyeshadow. Blow-drying my hair, I spent over an hour straightening it until the thick mass hung down like a glossy curtain to my butt, just as I suspected it would.
Nathan was picking me up at my house while German would discreetly follow behind us on his motorcycle. When we were eating, my biker bodyguard would wait outside of the restaurant in the parking lot. After dinner was over, my date was to promptly return me to my house no later than ten o’clock. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.
Nathan texted that he was outside the gate as I was strapping on my heels. Informing Gretchen my date was here and she could let him inside, I added everything I needed in my clutch and headed downstairs.
Needing a bottle of water to take with me, I went to the kitchen to grab one. German swept in behind me, his face an unreadable mask of stone.
Before he could lecture me, I said, “I remember the deal. I only get two hours to go to the restaurant and then I need to come directly home. No other stops.”
The man’s hard gaze traveled up and down my body and I suddenly felt flushed and heated all over. “Don’t you want to take a jacket with you?”
It was September. In California. I’m not sure the weather called for it. But, in the interest of keeping the peace, I decided to just agree. “I’ll grab something on my way out.”
“Maybe you should switch to pants. I hear it might rain tonight,” German suggested.
Shit! I’d forgotten to check the weather. My hair and rain did not mix! “Damn it, really? I didn’t even look.”
“You still have time to change,” German advised. “Richie Rich can wait.”
Catching on to what he was doing, my brow hiked. “You wouldn’t just be playing on my fear of frizz to get me to put on more clothes, would you, Christopher?”
German’s own brow hiked with my use of his first name. “I don’t care either way, Madelynn. I was just trying to be helpful.”
Picking up my cell, I quickly tapped the weather app. To my pleasure, I saw nothing but clear skies. “I don’t know where you get your weather reports, but I’d pick a new source if I was you. There’s absolutely no rain coming today or for the foreseeable future,” I smugly stated, waving my screen in his face.
German snagged the phone from my hand and tucked it in his back pocket. “Thanks. I’d almost forgotten to get that from you. My Brother Pipe needs to pull it apart. Make sure there’s nothing on there that shouldn’t be.”
I’d stepped into that one. I’d have to come to terms with my temporary phone. I brightened a bit when I reminded myself I was going out with Nathan. The man I’d lusted after since high school. My phone should be the last thing on my mind.
Despite this reminder though, I found I wasn’t half as nervous as I thought I’d be. Truthfully, I wasn’t half as excited as I thought I’d be, either. Maybe I was just numb from nerves? That must be it. I’d looked forward to this moment for so long, that I’d shut down emotionally when it had finally rolled around.
Gretchen walked into the kitchen and announced, “Mr. Nathan Ellington is waiting for you in the foyer, Ms. Framingham.”
“I’m coming,” I said, capping my bottle of water as I slid past German, my jacket now forgotten.
* * *
“Do you like your steak?” Nathan inquired, taking a careful sip of his vodka soda.
Finding my mind wandering, I smiled dutifully and said, “It’s perfect. Thanks. How’s your salad?”
I’d ordered the steak when Nathan had ordered the garden salad. I’m not saying I was judging, but, I can’t say I wasn’t, either. I mean, there’s nothing wrong with a salad, per se. I ate them all the time. Still, I’d thought when he’d ordered the appetizer salad, he was going to get something else, as well. When that was his entire order, I felt glutinous in comparison. A plain salad with nothing but olive oil to the side, minus croutons, left me second-guessing my steak and baked potato order.
“The salad’s great. Just how I like it,” the man enthusiastically returned, having the nerve to actually sound like he was excited by a handful of mixed greens and the odd cucumber here and there.
Extending the man a conversational life raft, I asked, “Did you have a late lunch or something today?”
“Nope,” Nathan answered, taking a small bite of lettuce coated in the barest hint of olive oil. “I had my regular salad at around one.”
Good God! The man ate a salad for lunch and dinner? That was cruel and unusual punishment if I’d ever heard it. “That doesn’t get boring? Salad for lunch and dinner,” I pressed out of morbid curiosity, taking a generous sip of my delicious pinot noir.
“Oh no. My afternoon salad had egg in it and my dinner salad has avocado on it.”
Struggling to hide my horror, I simply nodded and stuffed my mouth full of steak to quiet what I wanted to truly say. We stumbled through twenty more minutes of idle chit-chat before the waiter came over and asked us if we wanted to see the dessert menu.
As expected, Nathan shook his head and said, “I’m too full. We’re all set, thanks,” without even consulting me.
Annoyed that he hadn’t even checked to see if I wanted anything, I handed over my menu and my nearly empty plate. As much as I hated to admit it, the sooner this date ended, the better. Nathan and I had nothing in common. I realized, with the help of maturity and a dash of experience, that young me had only loved the boy for his good looks and killer abs. Abs, I realized, which were maintained by a strict keto diet and hours at the gym. At the end of the day, that oversight was on me, not Nathan. Not for the first time, I’d let my vagina lead the way. What I’d belatedly learned was that bitch had the worst sense of direction ever!
As Nathan paid the check, I wondered what German was doing in the parking lot. The thought of him, sitting on his motorcycle, tricked out in all leather, tall boots, and hidden behind a sleek, black helmet, kickstarted my libido in ways I was ashamed to admit.
What the hell was wrong with me? The man was a menace. Totally untamable. But maybe that’s why I found myself attracted to him. His motorcycle, tattoos, and direct manner all spoke to the wild side of me. If he were sitting beside me now, I was certain I wouldn’t be struggling to find things to say. The conversation would be flowing easily and we’d be fighting for a chance to speak. And you could be damn sure he wouldn’t have ordered a plain salad! Without even having dined with him before, I knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, Christopher German would have ordered a steak, rare, right alongside of me.
Gathering my belongings to go, Nathan led me out to the car, holding my hand. Opening the door for me, he waited until I strapped myself in before closing it and climbing into the driver's side.
When he took a left out of the parking lot instead of a right, I asked, “Isn’t the fastest route to my house in the opposite direction?”
I wasn’t trying to be a backseat driver, but maybe he’d accidentally taken a wrong turn in his zeal to get rid of me. Let’s face it. If I wasn’t having any fun on our date, I could pretty much assume he wasn’t either. There might also be some accident or road obstruction that he’d gotten an alert on his phone about that might make the route longer. If so, I knew these roads well and could direct him to the fastest route home.
“We’re not going to your house,” he cryptically stated, reaching over and squeezing my knee.
Starting to get nervous, I said, “We aren’t?” Checking the rearview mirror, I saw a single headlight and relaxed when I realized German was directly behind us and I was safe.
“I have a surprise,” he explained, his blue eyes lighting up with more excitement than I’d glimpsed all night.
Trying not to sound panicked, as Nathan wasn’t a serial killer, he was my date, I donned a false smile. “A surprise? What’s that?”
Nathan laughed. “If I told you what it was, it wouldn’t be a surprise. Would it?”
German was going to be furious! I’d promised him I’d go right home after dinner and that’s what I’d intended on doing. Only now, here Nathan was, Mr. Plain Green Salad guy, getting spontaneous on me. Figures!
Calming myself, I tried to take back control of the situation. “I don’t really like surprises.”
Dismissing my words, Nathan shifted his Ferrari into a higher gear and kicked up the speed. “Nonsense. Everyone likes surprises.”
Starting to sweat, I glanced in the rearview mirror again. German was keeping up, but we were in a luxury vehicle that could top out at nearly two hundred miles per hour. I don’t care who was driving. A motorcycle would never be able to keep up with that kind of speed.
I tried another angle then. “How about a tiny hint?”
Grinning like the Cheshire cat, Nathan’s hand returned to my leg. Only this time, it wasn’t my knee. It was higher up on my thigh. “You remember Anderson Peak, don’t you, Maddy?”
Anderson Peak was a popular makeout spot in high school. Not sure why Nathan would be taking me there, as I’d neither given him the impression that I was horny or nostalgic, my mouth just kind of hung open. “Yes, I remember it.”
“I wanted to show you something there,” he informed me, accelerating the car to over eighty miles an hour now. “Shit!” he angrily exclaimed. “What’s this guy’s deal behind me? The faster I go, the faster he goes. Why doesn’t he just drive around me already?”
Wanting to text German to tell him to slow down and not get into an accident, I knew it was pointless. At eighty miles an hour, he wasn’t checking his phone for texts. Plus, he was stubborn as hell. He wouldn’t listen to me just because I told him to stop. The way Nathan was acting, he’d think the idiot was trying to kidnap me! Doing what he’d been paid to do as my bodyguard, German would continue to chase us. He’d have no idea that the foolish man-child who was my date believed he was wooing me with this trip down memory lane.
The road got windier then and Nathan was forced to slow down. I started to relax, until he unexpectedly cut the wheel, turning onto a side road just before a procession of cars passed us on the left.
German sped by us then and Nathan cackled. “Serves the douchebag right! I hope one of those truckers flattened his stupid ass!”
My eyes bulged and I thought I was going to be sick. Not only had Nathan put German’s life at risk, but he’d also come close to getting the both of us into an accident in an attempt to shake the trailing biker.
“I want to go home,” I declared into the silence, my heart pounding a million miles an hour.
Nathan glanced at the clock on his dash. “It’s only nine-thirty, Maddy. What are you, ninety? Plus, I have to show you your surprise. This whole night has been leading up to it.”
I didn’t want his fucking surprise. I wanted to make sure German was okay and to go home. That’s it.
My voice sounded small and pathetic even to me when I said, “Please, Nathan. I don’t feel well. Can’t we do this another time?”
Furrowing his brow, my date glanced in my direction with concern. Only, not for my well-being, but for that of his precious car. “You’re not going to be sick, are you? This is Italian leather, Maddy. Stick your head out the window if you feel the need to hurl.”
Taking a series of quick turns, I began to recognize where we were. Climbing a steep hill, we were just around the corner from Anderson Peak. Nathan must have known a back way here, as I’d never gone this particular route before. But I guess that spoke to how many times he’d been up here over the years. I’d only gone once with my first boyfriend. When I’d refused to go all the way with him, he’d promptly dumped me for someone who would. To say I wasn’t particularly fond of this place, especially after tonight, was the understatement of the year.
Parking the car, Nathan unbuckled his seatbelt and flashed a stunningly white smile at me. “Come on. This place is great. We’re going to have so much fun tonight. You’ll see.”
Desperate to be out of the car, I threw open my door and dragged in a lung full of fresh air. Fighting the urge to place my head between my knees and breathe deeply, I stood on shaky legs and looked cautiously around.
“Come on,” Nathan urged, grabbing me by the hand and dragging me toward the ledge.
From this vantage point, we could see half the city. Twinkling lights worked in tandem with the stars to create enough luminescence to guide the way. It was beautiful. Stunning even. But, suddenly feeling dizzy, I dug in my heels. I didn’t like heights. Never had. I liked them even less when I was sick to my stomach and being dragged over to them by a madman who’d nearly killed me only minutes before.
“Nathan please!” I protested. “I don’t like heights. I can’t get this close to the edge.”
Tossing his arm around my shoulder, Nathan grinned. “Don’t worry, Maddy. I’ll protect you.”
I didn’t want to be protected by him. I wanted to be protected from him! “It’s nice,” I gritted through my teeth in an attempt to pacify him. “But now I want to go home.”
“Not yet. I want to spend some time up here with you. Just like you always wanted in high school,” he added, with a wink.
My head jerked up. “What does that mean?”
Chuckling, Nathan gave me a look that said he knew I was playing dumb. “Come on, Maddy! I know how hot you were for me back in high school. It’s common sense. Nobody lets somebody copy off their tests for an entire year of English Lit without wanting to bone them.”
Charming. This wasn’t exactly the way I had envisioned telling Nathan about my years of crushing on him. It was more like a fucking nightmare than anything.
“Okay,” I said weakly, not wanting to fight so close to the ledge, “you got me. It’s true. I had a crush on you in high school. Now can we get back to the car and you take me home?”
Smugly puffing out his chest, the man wrapped his arms around my back and forced me closer. Like I hadn’t just begged to leave his presence, he smirked down into my nauseated face. “So now that you finally have me, Maddy, what do you want to do with me?”
The mental image of pitching him over this ledge came to mind. Deciding that might be a tad of an overreaction, I pushed against his chest instead. “I don’t want to do anything with you, Nathan. I just want to go home.”
His face stormed over faster than a tropical squall. “What? You think you’re too good for me now?”
I could see that I’d hit a nerve. “No,” I tentatively began, trying to pull out of his tentacle-like grasp. But his arms were surprisingly strong for someone who consumed nothing but salads on a daily basis. “I’m just a little car sick is all.”
Nathan searched my face for any signs of deception. Satisfied that it couldn’t be him that was the problem, he said, “Well, I’m sure some fresh air will help.” Reaching into his pocket then, he pulled out a flask. “And this. Good ol’ flasky. It’ll be just like the old days, Maddy. Remember? We used to sneak up here to drink, fuck, and blaze up whenever we got the chance. God, I miss those days.”
Perhaps that was the problem. I wasn’t one of the gang he used to pal around with back in the day. And, as lit as he must have been, he didn’t even realize I’d never done any of that shit with him. Sadly, young me would have jumped at the opportunity to go anywhere, do anything, with this washed-up jock. But the woman I was now was so much wiser. She was disgusted by the very idea of letting him touch so much as a hair on her head, let alone anywhere else, and she couldn’t imagine anything more degrading than spending another moment in his unworthy presence.
“I think I’m going to hold off on “flasky” for right now,” I said, trying to keep the disgust out of my voice.
“Suit yourself,” Nathan retorted, upending the silver container as he took a long pull. When he was done drinking, he glanced down at me and began to slowly smile. “So how big was your crush on me in high school?”
I was no longer embarrassed for myself. I was embarrassed for him. I mean, who behaves like this when they find out somebody likes them? If dinner hadn’t been enough of a turn-off, Nathan’s conceited self-fixation was enough to kill any desire I might have had left for the man.
“I don’t know,” I returned with irritation. “It was just a crush. We’ve all had them, right?”
Not satisfied with my lackluster answer, Nathan grabbed my hair and yanked it so aggressively my eyes were forced to meet his. “That’s not what Natalie said. She said you used to fantasize about me all the time. That you even had a wet dream about me once.”
Note to self: Never talk to Natalie again. While it was true I’d had a rather pleasant dream of Nathan in my formative years which ended in me climaxing in my sleep, I wasn’t pleased my “friend” had told my crush about it. I’d confessed it to her when I’d been really drunk at a club one night and I saw a guy that looked like Nathan. Right about now, I regretted that loose-lipped moment more than the perm I’d gotten in the second grade. And that was saying something. That goddamned perm had earned me the nickname carrot top all through elementary school!
“Listen, Nathan, I think we both had too much to drink at dinner tonight,” I said, trying to change the subject. “Why don’t I call an Uber so it can take us both home? You can pick your car up in the morning.”
Nathan scoffed. “I’m not leaving my new fucking Ferrari here! Are you insane? That’s a three-hundred and fifty thousand dollar car!”
“Okay, well, I’m going to call for an Uber then,” I told him, done with trying to be nice. It wasn’t working and he didn’t deserve it.
“Sure,” he agreed, “after you blow me first.”
Shocked, my eyes rounded to saucers. “What?”
“You heard me,” Nathan replied, trying to force me onto my knees by adding pressure to my shoulders. “I didn’t take you out to dinner so we could catch up on old times, Maddy. I took you out so you could show me how much you liked me. Now show me!” he arrogantly demanded.
“You’re disgusting!” I spat, shoving him hard.
The momentum made me stumble backward far too close to the edge for my liking. My heart began to hammer in my chest and my vision started to blur from the near catastrophe.
“Don’t be a prude!” Nathan seathed, unzipping his well-pressed chinos. “It’s just a blow job for Christ's sake! I know you’ve given them before. What’s the big fucking deal?”
Having heard way too many horror stories that started just like this one, I did what the inner voice in my head was screaming for me to do. As soon as he pulled his flaccid dick out of his pants and gave it a few uninspired tugs, I bolted toward the treeline.
“Maddy! Get back here!” Nathan shouted, giving chase as soon as he’d tucked himself back into his boxer briefs.
No fucking way! I was going to hide in the woods all night if I had to. I knew if he got close enough, Nathan and his tiny dick, and tinier ego, were going to make me pay for defying him.
My breath roared in my ears as I disappeared into the trees that were just beyond the road that led to Anderson Peak. Unfortunately, I was wearing heels and a short dress that didn’t cover my very vulnerable flesh. Branches whipped by me, cutting into my exposed skin. Immediately, I became covered in scratches and tiny rivulets of blood trickled down my arms and legs.
My heels sunk into the ground with each step and it felt like I was running in a dream. Slow and unproductive, I made only a fourth of the progress I would have in sneakers. As a result, I didn’t get far before Nathan caught up with me. Those strong arms that I’d fantasized about during English class weren’t so welcome now. Fisting my hair, Nathan shoved me up against a tree and brought his mouth an inch from mine.
“All you had to do was give me a fucking blowjob, bitch!” he hissed, holding me like his prisoner against the rough bark. “You know you want to! Natalie said so. Why are you acting like such a stuck-up brat now that you have your chance?”
Was he fucking for real? He was justifying this assault because Natalie told him I once had a crush on him! What a delusional sack of shit! Sucking in as much air as I could, I began screaming.
When Nathan covered my mouth and hissed, “Shut the fuck up! You’re going to cause a problem!” I bit him so savagely, I tasted blood.
“Fuck!” he growled, jumping back to attend to his bleeding hand. “Did you just fucking bite me?”
Before I could respond, I glanced up and saw a dark shadow striding like an avenging angel toward us. Nathan didn’t have a chance. So focused on his wounded fingers, he didn’t hear the wraith until it was on him.