She let out a heavy sigh. I held her face, tightening my grip, watching the dew forming on her eyelashes.
“Life ain't fair, Summertime. Nothing else to it. You don't get shit unless you reach up, grab it by the fuckin' nuts, and yank it hard.”
“Thanks for the pep talk,” she snapped. “Not what I needed right now – especially when some things can never be yours, no matter how hard you push.”
“Whatever. Just wanted to give it to you straight before I lay down exactly what you need, woman.” My hand grazed her cheek again, brushing back a stray lock of hair. Remembered it wasn't no different than the one I'd tucked behind her ear years ago.
We were strangers. This shit shouldn't feel so familiar, but hell, it did.
Her eyes softened. I stared into them, fighting the wild instinct to take her in the next five seconds.
I'd wanted to kiss her before. It overpowered me now, and I wondered how many more seconds I'd need before I crushed my mouth on hers, reigniting the explosion we'd had that night when she was too young, and I was too stupid to come back sooner.
“Everything keeps changing, Jackson.” I gave her a sharp look when she used my real name. Her hands moved across my chest, soothing the frustration. “You're Joker now, I know. You have been for years. But I remember back before you weren't, when it was just you and Freddy, two young guys kicking ass around town.”
I let myself smile. “Yeah, babe. I remember those times, too. Funny how fuckin' far away it all seems.”
She didn't have a clue. Hell, I barely understood it myself.
I'd killed for the club since I'd put on my prospect patch years ago. I'd hauled drugs for Early a couple times, Dust's old man, and now we were trying to get gun deals with the mob. Fucked an endless train of bitches I couldn't remember to save my life.
I'd done some good, too. I'd stood up for my brothers. I'd lived free, and helped everybody else with these colors do it too.
Whether it was those nights when Skin started talking about his old man with tears in his eyes, or keeping Sixty off his bike when he'd gotten his second fuckin' DUI, I'd been there. I'd bumped beers with Piece a couple hundred times, cheering the club's small victories, and stood in a straight line when Dust became the new Prez, burying his father.
Ashes to ashes. Dust to fuckin' Dust.
The world kept turning with its blood and fire, its fuckin' and killing. Lived my life in the thick of it, taking one road at a time, and a dozen women a month.
Tonight, I just wanted one thrashing around on my cock, giving me her body like I was the last man she'd ever fuck.
“How many boyfriends you had?” I growled, narrowing my eyes.
There went those fires on her cheeks again. Pure crimson.
Her eyes looked around nervously and she licked her sweet lips. “Joker, come on. You can't just ask a girl that, especially when you haven't seen her for years.”
“Bullshit. Treat it like that ride home was only yesterday, 'cause that's the way it feels.”
“Whatever. Not a whole lot, Mister Nosey. There's been too many other things in my life to worry about besides chasing boys.”
No way. No goddamned fuckin' way.
She was talking like she hadn't been kissed since that night, much less fucked.
She couldn't be a virgin. She couldn't...or else my dick was gonna blow in my pants like a fuckin' kid.
I'd pulled myself off too many times, thinking about taking that cherry. If I had a chance to do it, to do her for the first time, tonight...
Fuck my promises. Fuck that shit about me being too bad for her, giving her a chance with the men she deserved.
She needed to be fucked good and proper. And nobody could put it to her like me.
No more bullshit. None.
My hand roamed up her back, fisted her long dark hair, and pulled 'til I heard her suck in a sharp breath.
“Admit it, Summertime. Whatever else has happened, the good and the bad, you missed me.”
“Maybe a little,” she said shyly. “But you turned me loose. You wanted me to stay away. So, I did.”
“Yeah, we did. That was a big, fat, fucked up mistake.” I stared at her, and she blinked, shocked beyond words at what I'd just said.
Hell, maybe I was shocked, too. Whatever, this wasn't the time for any regrets.
“Something else you missed, too,” I growled. “Same thing I've been missing, if you wanna know the bitter truth. Something we never got a chance to taste in full.”
“Yeah?”
Yeah. I jerked her face into mine without a second thought.
Our lips collided like thunderheads coming together.
Lightning in my mouth. Steam in my blood. Molten steel just twisting and turning through every channel in my body, churning fire in my balls.
I'd be in her soon, laying a claim I should've put down three goddamned years ago. Fuck, she tasted sweet. Couldn't stop for anything now. Wouldn't fuckin' stop.