Viper's Kiss (12 page)

fourteen.

Jessa couldn
’
t believe it.

Three minutes.

She stood in the kitchen and stared
at the tall glass of wine. It was dark, a deep crimson red, like blood. She
licked her lips and wanted it. It made her think of Blaine. Big shocker.
Everything made her think of him.

It had been far too long to give a
damn about him. But something lingered there. There was unfinished conversation.
Not business, no. They had no business. Their business was a one time cave into
temptation and nothing more. Nothing else mattered either.

Jessa reached for the glass,
pinching the skinny bottom with two fingers.

She pulled away.

Behind her, the microwave was on a
countdown. When the cheap appliance beeped, her life was going to change.
Maybe. Maybe not. Probably not.

“
Definitely
not,
”
she whispered.

This was all in her mind.

What she needed to do was drink the
wine, refill the glass, finish the bottle, and call it a night. From there, she
needed to make plans with Dr. Ashland and confess everything to her. About what
really happened that night with Vin and what it led to with Blaine. The guilt
was tearing her apart. Yes, Meghan wasn
’
t
alive. Yes, that meant Blaine was single. Yes, Jessa was single. But it still
felt wrong. Because the reaction her body had was coming from a place a long
time ago, when Blaine wasn
’
t
single.

Jessa shut her eyes and pinched the
bridge of her nose. She wished she could throw up.

No, I can
’
t right now. It
’
s not right before
lunchtime, remember?

She had convinced herself of
everything from stomach cancer to the lesser of an ulcer to the even lesser of
acid reflux. She settled on stress and anxiety. That could be fixed with wine
though, right?

That was the plan until she looked
at the freaking calendar.

Jessa turned and put her back to
the wine. The microwave was under a minute. The digital number changing with
the seconds counting down. She glanced to the fridge. The calendar. Right
there. Hanging from a magnet that looked like a giant, worn out clothespin. And
on that calendar was a full month
’
s
schedule of work. But on the second Friday there was a small red dot in the
corner. Her mother taught her how to do that.

To keep track.

“
Shit,
”
Jessa whispered.

Just like the pills
…

She had only missed a couple. Maybe
three. Maybe a week. That was only because
…

The microwave beeped.

“
Oh,
shit,
”
she said.

She then walked slowly toward the
bathroom. Each footstep as though she
’
d
never walk again. The creaks and moans of the floor of the apartment seemed so
loud and clear. She pushed the bathroom door open with care, as though there
were a chance someone was inside.

Jessa was completely alone in her
apartment.

Well, maybe
…

Her hand fluttered across her
stomach.

She stepped into the bathroom.

Her future waited right there on
the edge of the bathroom sink.

One step
…
two
…
three
…

She stood over the pregnancy test.

There was always a chance the test
could be wrong or defective.

When she saw the positive result,
she started to shake.

It could be wrong
…
it could be very wrong
…

Then she looked to the trash.

That
’
s
where the other three positive tests were hidden.

Jessa was pregnant. By Blaine.

fifteen.

Blaine pictured two women bent
over, naked. One with a nice round ass and real beautiful, tender lips to her
pussy. The kind that were perfectly pink, naturally pouty, meant for tasting
for hours. The other woman had a tight, small ass. Her pussy matched the same,
a tiny and tight slight. It made his middle finger twitch, wanting to touch.

That
’
s
how he wanted to go.

Dreaming of pussy.

Amazing pussy.

“
Blaine?
”
Gaige said.
“
Can you hear me?
”

“
I
’
m ready, brother. Just know I
love all you motherfuckers. You
’
re
the only family I
’
ve ever
really had. The only ones
…”

Blaine felt the gun move from his
head. Then something touched his back.

“
Take
the fucking cut and shut up,
”
Gaige said.

Blaine opened his eyes and turned
around.
“
What
…”

“
We
voted three times,
”
Miller
said.
“
No hesitation, Blaine.
You belong in this MC. No matter your past.
”

Blaine grabbed the leather cut and
hugged it. He then threw it around his arms.

“
Jesus
Christ,
”
Shay said.

“
You
’
re hard,
”
Nate said.

Blaine looked down and saw the
bulge in his jeans.
“
Oh,
yeah. That. I was, uh, you know, having a last image there
…”

“
Christ,
”
Miller said.

“
You
guys have to know what this means,
”
Blaine said.

“
We
can see,
”
Jace said and
pointed.

Everyone laughed.

“
Hey!
”
Miller bellowed.
“
Can we get down to business? We
have guys getting shot at. The new chief breathing down our necks. We
’
re getting set up to lose. I don
’
t fucking lose. Ever.
”

“
Blaine,
what
’
s the intel on Ethan?
”
Gaige asked.
“
You know him.
”

“
He
’
s a prick,
”
Blaine said.
“
He
’
ll
ride our ass until he finds something. He
’
ll
cross the line to get there.
”

“
That
’
s a big problem,
”
Miller said.

“
Yeah,
”
Blaine said.
“
But let him focus on me. He
wants to take me out because I took off. I broke their fucking code by running
the other way. Plus, I have nothing to lose here. I have no commitments. He
could take me in, toss me around, and this club could move forward.
”

“
You
’
d do that for this table?
”
Trev asked.

“
Of
course. All you assholes have pussy tying you down. Not me.
”

“
Well,
keep an eye on him,
”
Miller
said.
“
Use your past to your
advantage. Now, we have to deal with these attacks. Eight Under has completely
rebuilt itself. They even have new leadership. A guy named Levi is the
President. Then there
’
s
Anderson as VP and Victor third in line. They
’
ve
cleaned up and gotten tougher.
”

“
Who
’
s financing this?
”
Blaine asked.

“
We
don
’
t know,
”
Gaige said.

“
What
’
s their play?
”
Shay asked.
“
Money? Pussy? Territory?
”

“
Us,
”
Miller said.
“
They want into Frelen. They
’
re going to use our disadvantage
to the max. Meaning the new chief.
”

“
You
ever think you
’
d wish Jerry
was still here?
”
Jace
asked.

“
Never,
”
Miller said.
“
That son of a bitch is rotting
in the ground where he belongs. We
’
ll
work around Ethan.
”

“
We
got this,
”
Blaine said.
“
Nothing is going to stop this
MC.
”

“
It
’
s time to meet up,
”
Miller said.
“
That
’
s the other half of this meeting.
”

The room went silent again.

Blaine adjusted his leather cut,
really feeling at home. He slowly walked to his seat and grabbed it. The entire
table was standing. They were all quiet.

“
They
can destroy the dead parts of this town,
”
Miller said.
“
That doesn
’
t bother me. The PD can run
through all our connections and give us a headache. We
’
ve made peace with the strip club. It took some
serious cash
…”

“
Nothing
they wouldn
’
t have gotten
from Blaine,
”
Gaige said.

“
God
bless that,
”
Blaine said.

“
Listen,
”
Miller said.
“
Levi contacted me. He wants the
ambushes and shootouts to stop.
”

“
Then
stop ambushing us,
”
Gaige
said.

“
Face
to face,
”
Miller said.
“
Club to club. Eye to eye. They
want to call us out. We really decimated them before.
”

“
We
’
ll do it again,
”
Blaine said.

“
What
if they want a call for peace?
”
Shay asked.
“
They want to
rebuild and stay where they belong?
”

“
I
know what the club has to protect and how to protect it,
”
Miller said.
“
That
’
s all I care about. I say we
show up.
”

“
Won
’
t two groups of bikers attract
attention from Ethan?
”
Landon asked.

“
That
’
s where we test the balls of our
prospects,
”
Miller said.

“
A
diversion,
”
Blaine said
with a grin.
“
Hey, let me
do it.
”

“
No,
”
Miller said. He put a hand to Blaine
’
s shoulder.
“
You
’
ve spent weeks away from this goddamn table. You
’
re with us today. This club,
this table, we stand strong together.
”

Everyone made fists and hit them to
the thunder.

The sound was like thunder.

Miller stuck his fingers into his
mouth and whistled.

“
I
want to know who is financing this,
”
Miller said.
“
I want to
know why. And I want him taken out.
”

“
Peace
talks, huh?
”
Shay said with
a smile.

“
I
have my version of peace,
”
Miller said.
“
Now
…
we vote
…”

As Miller lifted the gavel, Blaine grabbed
his wrist.
“
No. We don
’
t vote. This is for our town.
Nobody is going to take that away.
”

“
Agreed,
”
Gaige said.

“
Aye,
”
Shay said.

The rest of the guys nodded.

They all then busted out of the
meeting room and were in the clubhouse. It was full. The entire Frelen charter
stood there. Patched in members. Prospects. Even some old-timers who weren
’
t serving but still wore their
Back Down Devil MC tattoos like prized possessions on their skin.

Blaine nodded.

This is family.

His other family was buried in the
ground. He had no idea what would have happened with him and Meghan though.
When it was hot, it was fucking hot. When it cold, it was ice cold. The only
thing that kept them together was Janey.

Blaine leaned against the bar.

Gaige slapped him on the back.
“
You did good in there. I know
that wasn
’
t easy. You know,
putting down that asshole card for a minute.
”

Blaine nodded.
“
Yeah.
”

“
I
promise you this, brother. When we get back from this meeting I
’
ll have half a dozen women in
your room. My treat. You take them all and just
…”

“
You
joining?
”
Blaine asked.

“
No.
”

“
What
about Emily? I
’
d love a run
at her.
”

“
That
’
s my woman, asshole. Don
’
t piss me off.
”

“
What
about Ella? And those tits. She
’
s
still breastfeeding
…”

“
Miller
is going to kill you one of these days.
”

“
Yeah,
I know,
”
Blaine said.

He needed those thoughts. Because
when he buried the past in the back of his mind, Jessa came forward. He never
thought he would regret sleeping with someone
…

“
We
’
re riding!
”
Miller announced.

He went to the door where a
prospect held it open for the MC to get through. The prospects, other patched
in members, and old-timers stayed behind.

The ritual seemed very odd
considering they were just going to meet another crew. Then again, anything
that resembled a ritual in their life had purpose because each breath was
another one stolen from the reaper waiting to take them all down.

Outside, Blaine walked to his ride.

Miller came with him.
“
If I ever see you put your
motorcycle here again, I
’
m
going to chop your dick off, blow up your ride, and then shoot you in the head.
”

“
Got
it,
”
Blaine said.

Miller put on sunglasses and walked
away.

A minute later they were riding.
Motorcycle after motorcycle, thundering out of the lot, each one with its steel
horse cry for outlaw freedom, they were going to stand strong and defend a town
that wasn
’
t so sure what it
was the MC actually did.

Blaine wasn
’
t sure what Miller had planned to keep Ethan busy
though. If Ethan showed up and saw two MC
’
s
ready to battle, he
’
d hang
back and enjoy it. Then he
’
d
make a name for himself and take both crews out. Not with guns though. Ethan
loved the game of it all. Taking it down piece by piece until it became
beneficial for himself.

There was just too much to focus on
right now with the club. Blaine was actually relieved he got his secret off his
chest. And that he sent Jessa packing back home where she belonged.

They rolled through Frelen right to
the border on the east side. There were five motorcycles waiting. All Eight
Under guys.

Miller led the charge, the entire
table coming to the meeting. That meant there were a total of nine Back Down
Devil members there.

Miller and Gaige were in the front.
The rest of the guys hung back.

Blaine climbed off his motorcycle
and took out his gun. He was in charge of arms and the one who had to make sure
his VP and President stayed safe.

“
Looks
like you have us outnumbered here,
”
someone said.

“
Just
showing you what it
’
s like,
”
Miller said.
“
You
’
re Levi.
”

“
You
’
re Miller.
”

There was a slight hesitation before
both men shook hands.

“
Lots
of bullets flying lately,
”
Miller said.

“
Comes
with the territory.
”

Miller pulled at Levi
’
s hand.
“
My fucking territory.
”

The Eight Under guys all took out
weapons. Large weapons. The kind that shot multiple rounds per second.

“
Don
’
t worry,
”
Miller yelled back.
“
Nobody
draw on this. We
’
re not
showing our weakness.
”

“
Weak?
”
Levi asked.
“
You don
’
t get it. You
’
re
old. Time
’
s are changing.
We cleaned up the table at the MC. Got rid of the dirt and recruited.
”