Arrow of Time (8 page)

That made her blush even worse, and Brick chuckled.

“How was work?” Lanie said while trying to straighten her skirt.

Was she really trying to have a normal conversation in the middle of this? I smiled, shook my head and motioned to the very liberal party that was going on on their deck.

“More dressed than this.
A lot
more panties. Or just bigger panties.”

That made Brick laugh out loud.

“Girl, I love you,” he said. “There's food in the kitchen.”

“
I've been there, and by now there's probably people copulating in the kitchen, so I think I'll skip the food.” I stood up. “I ate at work, I'm fine.” I leaned forward and kissed first his cheek and then Lanie's.

“
Get that hand up there again, Soldier.” I winked and that made Lanie blush again while Brick wiggled his eyebrows. “And there better not be people fucking in my bed.”

“
There better not,” Brick agreed. “Told them your bed was off limits for fucking.”

I nodded, and when I passed Vasco I held up the joint. “I'm keeping this.”

“Do that, love. See you.”

“
See you.”

I had known biker parties were wild, and I'd seen and been to some wild parties, but this was in my top ten of number of bare asses. Probably top ten of the numbers of people having public sex as well. I was kind of impressed. I managed to see Mech seriously groping his wife, Lynn, and then there was Wolf with a brunette and... yup, they were having sex. Like penis in vagina sex. On the stairs. Impressive.

I opened the door to my room and heard an 'ouch'. As I stepped inside, looking behind the door, I saw why. A blond woman was down on her knees, and a guy was leaning against the wall, kissing a second woman who was standing up next to him. He had one hand on the girl on the floor's head and the other around the other girl's waist. I'd obviously hit the kneeling woman with the door. And obviously, with two women involved, it was Dawg. And since the woman previously giving him a blowjob now was rubbing the her elbow, I got a very good view of Dawg's dick.

When I raised my eyes, he was looking at me with a smirk.

“I'm pretty sure Brick just told me that he'd told all of you that my room was off limits, so could you please get the fuck out of here?”

Dawg closed his jeans and pointed at the door while looking at the girls. I put out the joint in the ashtray I had on the dresser next to him and then walked into the bathroom, assuming he'd be gone by the time I got out.

Washing my face and brushing my teeth I tried to stop thinking about that cock. It was a nice dick. Very nice. Straight, nice girth and length and just generally fucking perfect.

When I came back outside I halted, because sitting in my armchair was Dawg, smoking my joint.

“Hey! That was mine!”

“
I can get you another one.”

“
I don't want another one, I wanted that one, and when I said 'get the fuck out' it included you.”

He smiled and, holding his breath, he held out the joint for me. Completely ignoring my attempts to get him out of my room. At the same time, I was trying to stop my eyes straying downwards to see if he still had a hard-on.

“I just brushed my teeth.”

That made him roll his eyes, and he insisted with the joint so I took it, and sat down on top of the dresser. When I took a deep drag, he exhaled.

“All he said was that
your
bed
was off limits for fucking, and I wasn't in your bed, as you noticed.”

Now it was my turn to roll my eyes, and he smiled and continued.

“Also, you just saw my dick so I'd say you owe me.”

I raised my eyebrows to get him to explain.

“I wanna see the ink on your back.”

I gave him the finger while exhaling. “Not gonna happen.” I handed the joint back to him, and now it was his turn to hold his breath, and I waited for the exact right second. “Although it was a
very
nice dick, Dawg. Thank you for the peek.”

He started coughing, so I took my chance.

“Now, I need to sleep so,
please
, get the fuck out of here.”

He stood up, still coughing and laughing, but he was finally walking towards the door. He stopped in front of me to put out the joint in the ashtray next to me and put his free hand on my knee. When he was done he turned to me, looking me right in the eyes.

“Let me know anytime you want another look.”

“
I'll keep that in mind.” I jumped down and that way I was standing really close to him. “I'm sure you can find those girls again, and I'd suggest the washroom. The washing machine has the perfect height.”

“
So does this dresser.”

“
I know, but you can't fuck in my room, Dawg.”

He leaned closer, really fucking close, and his hands were now on my hips. He had gray eyes, a really nice shade, and that small smirk was on his lips just like always. In an attempt to avoid his eyes, I stared at the tattoo he had on his throat. It was one of those classic skull moths, the wings spreading over the sides.

“Dawg...” I mumbled.

“
Yes, Nibbles?” he said in a low voice.

“
Get the fuck out.”

The cocky smirk became a nice smile, and he leaned back and with a squeeze of my hips he left. After a few deep breaths, I went back into the bathroom to brush my teeth again. Then I locked my door and went to bed. I wasn't sure what the hell had just happened, and I wasn't sure what to think about it, either. Or if I should think about it.

CHAPTER FOUR:

I Never Left the Planet

-o0o-

Friday, June 1
st

BRICK WAS SITTING IN
the clubhouse bar with Vasco, Wolf and Dawg. They were waiting for the others and for church to start. When Mel came walking, holding Eliza's hand, he smiled and then noticed the look on her face. It didn't look good. She halted in front of him with her free hand on her hip and that little sway in her hip that he knew did amazing things when he had his dick in her. He tried to not think about that at the moment, though. Riling her up when she was pissed could get her turned on as hell, but she might just as well explode and he'd be in the doghouse for days.

“
Hey, baby.”

“
We have an emergency,” she said. “Do you know where Edie is?”

Three months. Edie'd been with them for three months and he was starting to wonder how the fuck they'd made the days work before. Because she'd saved their asses more than once during one of these 'emergencies'.

“Why would I know that?”

“
I don't know, I was more hoping.” She turned to Vasco. “Do you?”

“
Nope. Know she's working the short, late shift today, but that's it. Think she said something about meeting Dawn.”

“
Damn!”

He noticed Eliza going up to Dawg, who immediately picked her up. That fucker obviously had every woman on the planet under his spell, even kids! He shook his head when he noticed Eliza putting her arms around his neck and hugging him tight after pulling off his beanie.

“What's the emergency?” He asked Mel.

“
I haven't seen her all day, and I can't find her. Mac and Mitch are at their mom's this weekend, which I forgot. I need to go to that meeting with the supplier, grease them up to give us better prices, and I can't bring the kid and I'm guessing you're...” she looked around and gave him a sweet smile. “Occupied.”

“
Not yet, but I will be in about an hour.”

“
Why don't you call her?” Wolf said. “Edie, I mean,”

“
She doesn't have a phone,” Brick explained.

“
What! Why?” Dawg said with a laugh.

“
She's Edie,” Mel snapped, and he had to bite his cheeks not to laugh.

“
She's getting one,” he said instead and ignored the glare from his wife.

She was cute as fuck when she was pissed, but this was not the right moment to mention it. He knew what set her off with Dawg's question. Edie had some strange ideas about stuff, and she seemed to be allergic to tech. She hardly ever watched TV, and if she did, it was a movie or documentary. He'd seen her by the computer now and then, but it was just to check her emails. She didn't have a cell.

He looked at Vasco. He probably knew her best, at least her habits here in Greenville. “What's her usual places?”

“
Library, that café... what's it called?” Vasco was looking at Mel.

“
Java,” Mel nodded.

“
That's the one. And then it's that vegan place that Dawn takes her to sometimes.”

“
Right. Three places,  start with those. You've got thirty minutes to find her.”

“
Frekkin' prospect work,” Wolf muttered.

Brick had to give him a point for that. It was prospect work, but at the moment the two prospects were out getting supplies for the party that night. They didn't have much of an option though. Mel needed to go to that smooch dinner and they needed Edie to babysit. He didn't trust the prospects with his kid yet.

“Yeah?” He glared at Wolf. “Unless you wanna have a kid in your lap during church, you find Edie.”

The three of them took off, and he assumed they'd be smart enough to divide the places between them without him clarifying that detail. He turned to Mel.

“If we don't find her, I'll call Bear and have Lisa watch them. It'll work out.” Lisa was Bear and Michaela's oldest daughter. Or rather, she was Michelle's daughter from a previous – very short – relationship, but she was Bear's in all the ways that counted. The youngest, Violet, was too young to babysit. “I'm gonna have a talk with Mech about a phone for Edie.”

“
We can't force her to get a phone just so we can make sure she runs to our rescue whenever we need a babysitter.”

“
I'll talk to her. She'll agree.”

“
You can't force her, honey.”

He was getting tired of Mel being so scared they'd do something that would upset Edie. She wasn't gonna take off for shit like that, but Mel kept protecting her. Building walls around her. She was about two steps from wrapping the girl up in bubble wrap. It was ridiculous. He also suspected it was starting to get on Edie's nerves.

“I'm not going to
force
her, I'm gonna suggest it and say it would be helpful if she had one. Jesus, woman! I'm not some dictator, and she's not that fucking fragile.”

“
Okay.”

“
Hey. Come here.” He reached for her and pulled her in for a hug. “You need to stop being so overprotective of her. She's a big girl and no one'll get her to do something she doesn't want to. You know that.”

“
I know. I'm just...”

“
We're not gonna scare her off. Don't worry, baby.” He looked down at her. “Give me some lips.”

She looked up at him and he could see her eyes go soft and the slight smile on her lips before she rolled up on her toes and gave him a proper kiss.

-o0o-

I was sitting at a café, reading. Dawn had left not long before, since she had the early shift, but I'd brought some books. I hadn't been able to decide on just one, so at the moment there were two of them on the table and one in my hands. Somewhere in the back of my head I heard the chair opposite me being pulled out and scraping across the floor; my brain just didn't fully registered it.

“Hey, Nibbles.”

I looked up and saw Dawg with his usual, arrogant, shit-eating grin. With a sigh, I closed my book and put it top of the two already lying on the table.

“Hey.”

I had to fucking admit it, like I always had to when I saw him; those gray eyes, the beard, the ink covering that very nice body; the man was handsome. Pretty damn sexy as well. Only downside was that he knew it. I looked at the tattoo over his throat. The wings were really beautifully done. All of his ink was first class work, at least the stuff I'd been able to see. There were tattoos going up the sides of his neck as well. Some flowers that I couldn't identify. On his lower left arm one of the tattoos was classic heart with 'mom' in it. I wasn't much of a fan of those old school tattoos, but he made those work too. In general he made the fact that he was absolutely covered, with exception of his face, in ink, work. It didn't look cramped at all, it looked perfectly natural. And, again, very sexy.

He was tall, over six feet. I wasn't sure how much and I wasn't about to ask. It was annoying that I gave a shit, just like it annoyed me that I thought he was sexy. He noticed me staring and gave me that cocksure smile again.

“
Heads up—Brick is set on giving you a mobile.”

I wasn't sure what he meant, and I wondered why he was here. Was it just to tell me that?

“Why would I need a heads up for that?”

“
Mel seems to think you don't want one.”

I shook my head with a smile and shrugged. “Not sure why she'd think that. Not like she's asked, and I just haven't thought about getting one.”

In fact, I had decided that I couldn't afford one at the moment. A waitress wasn't making all that much money, and a cell didn't seem that important to me. Even if I wasn't embarrassed about the fact that I wasn't making a lot of money, Dawg didn't need to know that. That's when I got why Mel would think that I didn't want one and continued.

“
Aah. She seems to think I'm half bewildered. I've tried to explain that I spent a lot of the time in actual cities. Big ones. Think it's because I eat with my hands.”

“
Why do you eat with your hands?”

“
If it's too hot to hold in the hand it's too hot to put in the mouth.” I noticed Dawg looking at my mouth when I said it. “And... I spent a lot of time in areas where they didn't have silverware. At least not our kind.”

He kept looking at me, just smiling and just when it started to feel really awkward, he took one of the books on the table and held it up.

“I've heard they have this thing called e-readers these days.”

“
I know that. I've never left the planet.”

That made him laugh again. He did that a lot and I wondered if it was because it was easy for him to laugh or if it was just another way for him to charm women because he knew he looked great when he did. He'd turned the chair around and was leaning his arms on the backrest.
That
I was damn sure was a thing done to make him look sexier.

I was fed up with him now, and I wanted him to leave or at least tell me why he was here. So I simply asked, to speed up the process.

“Are you bugging me for a reason?”

“
Yes, I am. There’s a crisis at the compound. They need a babysitter. Mel has a meeting and we have church.”

“
Okay.” I packed up my things while he was still looking at me. I knew he was, even if I was avoiding looking at him in return to confirm it. To not completely ignore him, I asked him something that I'd been wondering for a while. “Dawg, what's your real name?”

“
Why are you asking?”

“
It's a bit... weird to call you Dawg.”

“
Nothing weird about it. It's my name.”

“
Should've known better,” I muttered as I threw the last book into the bag.

“
What?”

“
I asked Vasco, and he just said that it was his real name, only name I needed to know since it would be the only thing I would call him.”

I stood up and threw the bag over my shoulder. Dawg stood up and then moved to stand right in front of me. I just barely reached his chin and he was looking down at me, eyes gleaming. You notice strange things when someone's that close. The ring in his nose had twisted so the lock was almost on the outside. And when you forget breathing, realize it and take a deep breath, that the other person can smell really nice. Dawg smelled nice, and he was still sporting that fucking smile.

“Tell you what, Nibbles. You tell me what you've got inked on your back and I'll tell you what name my mama gave me.”

I stared at him. His focus shifted from one eye to the other as he met my stare. He was so close. When I bit my lower lip he broke the connection and looked down at my mouth, so I took a step back and smiled. Had to give it to the man, he was really trying, and he was good. But I could play that game as well.

I leaned forward and got up on my toes and waited til his eyes met mine again, then I blew up a big smile.

“
Forget it.”

The very next second I turned around and walked towards the door. It didn't take long before I heard his chuckle and he caught my wrist.

“Nibbles, hang on!” Then he was next to me. “I'll take you there.”

I wish I could've told him to go fuck himself, but I didn't have a car. Something that was high up on my list of things I needed. A lot higher up than a phone. Unfortunately, also a lot more expensive than a phone. There were some other, embarrassing, problems involving a car.

I wasn't sure if I could drive one, not in the city, while following existing traffic rules that people paid attention to. I had a driver’s license and I had actually been driving now and then while I was away. But usually on country roads surrounded by sand, sometimes a forest. Or in a city like New Delhi where no one knew the traffic rules and to get forward you just honked, yelled, prayed and hoped for the best. I didn't think that technique would go over all that well in Greenville.

Dawg took me to his bike and looked at me, so I snapped out of my car thoughts and stared at the bike. It wasn't like Vasco's. There was no back support for the passenger.

“You okay with this?”

“
Sure,” I said while trying to catch my breath.

“
You've done this?” He looked a bit skeptical.

“
Yes, with Vasco.” I looked at him and kept talking so I'd be able to avoid the inevitable for just a few more seconds. “Do they know you found me? I mean, so they're not still searching.”

“
Texted them when I saw you.”