Highway Song: A Smokey's Roadhouse Novel (11 page)

After a few days, I had a plan, and I
’
d gathered some supplies. It didn
’
t bother me to eat the food from dumpsters anymore, and it didn
’
t bother me to ask people on the sidewalks of the city for some spare change. One evening, a man asked if I needed some help. He promised to buy me something to eat and take me to a shelter, so I went with him.

Once I got into his car, I never had a chance. He had the driver stop at the back of a big house, and two huge men came out, seized me by the arms, and dragged me inside. I was defenseless when they stripped me, shoved me in a shower and cleaned me up, and then delivered me, still naked, to a brown-skinned man with a shaved head and cold black eyes. At his nod, they left me there.

“
Answer me true, chica. You a virgin?
”

I was too busy trying to cover myself with nothing but my two hands to wonder why he
’
d ask that. I nodded, shivering.
“
Good!
”
he said.
“
Top dollar.
”

An hour later I lay spread-eagled and handcuffed to a four-poster bed while the man he
’
d sold me to took my innocence, or what was left of it. I was fifteen.

“
Hey,
”
Rex said,
“
It
’
s going to be okay.
”

“
No it isn
’
t. He
’
ll catch me off-guard sooner or later. I
’
ve got to get out of here.
”
I pulled myself together and pushed out of his arms.
“
He won
’
t let that stand. A one-percenter can
’
t afford to let a woman best him. He
’
ll be back, and next time he
’
ll have a gun. He
’
ll rape me, and then he
’
ll turn me over to the club.
”

“
You
’
re kidding,
”
Rex said.

“
Where have you been, hotshot? Did you think it was all roses and rainbows in the real world?
”
In a way, I had a feeling it wasn
’
t fair. After all, his mom had to run away from my dad, too, and he
’
d probably had it almost as rough as I had when he was a kid. But look at him now. He had a talent he could turn into a career, and he was a man. In fact, he was a very
fit
man. No one would have done to him what had been done to me, not without injury. Not for the first time, I hated having been born female.

“
You
’
re pissed off. I get it. But, he wouldn
’
t come after you just because
…”

“
Guess again. He would, and he will. Within the hour, maybe. Can I get in your bus?
”

“
Well, yeah. I mean, there isn
’
t much privacy there, but
…”

“
Let me break it down for you, so you understand. Jake is gonna try to kill me. I
’
m not gonna let him, but I need to be away from here before he comes back. Let me get in your bus, and I
’
ll do whatever you want.
”
I hated trading sex for safety, but desperate times and all. He wasn
’
t bad looking, and if I was going to leave with them when they went, it would probably be because I could give him the best head he
’
d ever had in his life. My former career did have its uses.

“
What if he brings his gang, and shoots up the bus?
”

“
Are you really that big a pussy? That
’
s unlikely. Smokey lives a few hundred yards from here, and he runs the club. They can overpower me, but they wouldn
’
t start a gunfight on his property without the approval of the club. Do you want that blowjob or don
’
t you? Because if you don
’
t, betcha one of your band members would.
”

His eyes went wide when I mentioned blowjob. Maybe his groupies weren
’
t the direct type. After years in the life, I was. Time was money, after all.

We crowded into his bunk and drew the curtain.
“
Amy,
”
he whispered.
“
You don
’
t have to
…”

“
A deal is a deal,
”
I answered. What he didn
’
t know was I
’
d been wondering about what he had in his pants ever since the kiss hours before. Was it as big as it felt? It had been forever
—
more like never
—
since I was with a guy I really wanted to be with. That wasn
’
t part of the business plan for a hooker.

Rex
 

I
f
elt like a creep, the way she was acting. Did she really mean what I thought she meant? It was almost like
…
well, she was acting like a hooker. Not that I ever needed a hooker. There were plenty of willing girls at the stage door. But okay, before I figured out what I wanted to do with music, and before I realized I was a mediocre guitar player and a better singer, there
’
d been a few. I didn
’
t stay around anywhere long enough to form a relationship with a girl.

Since we got big enough to attract the volunteers, there was no need for paid sex. And I wanted Amy on my terms, not because she thought she had to pay me for protecting her. She had it wrong. I wasn
’
t afraid of those bikers
—
not exactly. I mean, I exercised a little cautious common sense, like whoever first said
‘
don
’
t take a knife to a gunfight
’
. She probably thought I was a coward for not leaping to her defense earlier, but to be fair, she
’
d cut him before I even knew what was happening. And I only wanted to know if I was putting the other guys at risk by bringing her into the bus with us. Because if I was, I wanted to figure out another way.

To be perfectly honest, the phrase
‘
blowjob
’
fried my brain. It never could handle trying to think with no blood supply.
“
Amy, you don
’
t have to
…”

“
A deal
’
s a deal,
”
she said. She was eyeing me like prey, and my control was slipping fast, but this wasn
’
t the way it was going to happen. When she reached for me, I stopped her. With my hand on her wrist, I summoned every iota of will-power I had, and said,
“
No.
”

“
No? Are you serious?
”
Her eyes were round and
…
wounded?

“
Not like this. Not because of that jackass. Were you serious when you said he
’
d kill you? That isn
’
t you just being dramatic?
”

She gave me a look that withered my balls.
“
You don
’
t have a clue, do you?
”

“
Then you should come with us when we leave. I can
’
t leave you here.
”

“
You
’
d do that? You
’
d take me with you?
”
All her bravado fled with that question. In that moment, she looked like an orphan child.

What had life done to this woman? And why the hell should I be the one to fix it? But right then, it was all I wanted to do. Fix what was broken, mend it so the cracks didn
’
t show, and help her move on to something better.

“
Sure, why not? We
’
re headed to Seattle, going through Salt Lake City and Boise. We can drop you wherever you want to stay.
”
Normally I
’
d run something like this past the rest of the guys, but this was an emergency. Life and death, if she was right. I thought her boss would protect her, but she seemed convinced it wouldn
’
t be enough.

She launched herself at me as soon as I stopped talking. And then her lips were on mine, and my last brain cell died a contented death while we kissed. This time there was no hesitancy, and while her tongue jousted with mine, her hands were busy with the drawstring of my sweats.

I caught her hands with one of mine and twisted to lay her down and lie alongside her.
“
Let
’
s take this slow, sugar. What
’
s the hurry?
”

She sighed and quieted under my stroking hand. One of hers tangled in my hair and pulled. For a second I was floating on a vague memory, but I couldn
’
t capture it. Besides, the bewitching beauty below me required all of my attention.

I was never a
‘
slam-bam-thank-you-ma
’
am
’
kind of guy. Maybe it was being raised by a single mother, especially one who got knocked around by her boyfriends a lot. To me, women were to be conquered, yes. But once they were in my bed, I wanted to make them glad they
’
d yielded to my insistence. There was nothing like the crashing orgasms of a woman at my hands to make me feel like a god.

Each time Amy tried to grab me, I evaded her touch. Yes, I wanted it. But she was in a hurry, and I didn
’
t want her to be. I nuzzled just under her jawline and flicked my tongue out to taste her skin. She was so smooth and silky. The slightly salty taste of her skin mingled with the sweet scent of her in a feast of sensual stimulation. I slid my hand under the old t-shirt and up from her waist to her ribcage, just under her breast.

I
’
d thought she was too thin when I first saw her, and she was. I could feel her bones through a thin layer of skin, and the hollows between each rib. Didn
’
t she eat? Or did she have one of those eating disorders? I wanted to know, and that surprised me. I
’
d never wanted to know one of the groupies before, even while I was giving them the same slow, sensuous handling.

Amy purred like a kitten under my hands. When I pushed against the t-shirt, bunching it up under her arm, she lifted both arms over her head and arched, allowing me to pull it off and toss it aside. Small, perfectly-formed breasts tipped with virginal pink nipples appeared for my tongue to explore, while my hand made its way back down to her shorts and under the waistband.

She hadn
’
t made a sound until then, and I thought she was being discreet. But a low moan accompanied mine when I cupped her ass and squeezed gently.
“
Amy.
”

Her eyes fluttered open, and she gave me a sweet smile.
“
Don
’
t stop.
”

I took a nipple between my lips and swirled my tongue around it, wringing a gasp from her. She arched further, and moved her leg to press against my dick. I wasn
’
t going to last much longer. I inched down, trailing kisses along the centerline as I worked my way down past her belly button and into the soft patch of neatly trimmed hair. Her breath hitched as I blew gently at the bottom of the curls to clear my way, and then a sharp
‘
oh
’
, quickly muffled, was her first response to my tongue lapping her clit. A heavy sigh, and both of her hands found my hair.