Category Archives: Fiction

Hot Blacktop Ch. 12 – Danny

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Dannys House

Saint’s heart tripped in his chest. Something didn’t feel right. His eyes opened, and he reached for Sienna. His hand went to the bed. Still warm. He listened. Experienced with the worst, his past with his sister and her drug abuse, Saint’s hearing narrowed for any disturbance. Sienna was in the living room. His feet automatically hit the floor. Too quickly he found his boxers and tripped over his shoes. It was too soon after Sienna’s mother’s appearance for him not to worry.

He found her and what he saw was abject fear.

“I don’t have that kind of money,” she said. Her alarm coalesced and took shape into uncontrollable tremors. He watched it happen and was at her back, his arms wrapped around her in an instant. The screen image on her phone, after seeing it, he understood why she couldn’t stop shaking. Her mother was in deep shit.

“Please, Sienn…” she’d been cut off. There’d been a knife at her throat. The phone went black.

“Mom!”

Saint blinked. “Holy shit! This is a mess.” Saint turned her around, and she burrowed her face into the hollow of his neck. All he could do was hug her close as she cried.

“What am I going to do?” she whispered. “I have to go. I have to get to her.”

“You’re not going anywhere.” The two stared at each other, and then Saint said, “not alone, anyway.”

*****

Danny hunched on the floor in the corner of the closet. The small four wall box a familiar prison. She’d locked him in; he couldn’t remember how long now. The cut on his lip and cheek ached like a son of a bitch. He didn’t dare move too much. The last kick he’d taken to his ribs had caused him to pass out. Luckily she hadn’t been wearing boots. She’d been wearing her red-soled high heels.

His mother’s outfit was pristine, no flaws in appearance. The perfect mom to anyone that knew her outside of the house. On the inside of her watchful sphere, though, his mom was the devil’s sister, her heart as hard and dead as a piece of coal.

Danny had just gotten back from school, his bag hitting the kitchen floor, and the next thing he knew he face-planted on the wood planks next to the marble island, his cheek bleeding…somewhere. “You broke my nail!” She’d screamed, he’d rolled into a protective ball holding his gaping skin so she couldn’t have another go at him. But she always found a way when she was like that.

Danny wiped the wetness from his cheek. “Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!” He yelled into the bleakness.

She’d played with him until he whimpered in the closet like a stupid girl. She dragged him up the stairs and into the dark room, walked out and locked the door. And by play, Danny meant beat the shit out of him. Again. His father had just stood there.

“Bastard!” he screamed at the locked door. He grabbed his ribs as he tried to catch his breath.

His father was a weak asshole.

To distract himself, Danny made a list in his head about everything he loved about motorcycles. The most important thing on the list, Saint. “Saint is nothing like my father,” he whispered over and over. But then he got angry.  Then he asked himself, why was he with Sienna? He shook his head and then regretted it. He hurt everywhere.

“I need to get out of the fucking closet.” He crawled with the energy of a sloth and leaned into the corner, propping himself up, so he could breathe better. The wood paneling was hard and cold, and the cedar smell made his nose itch. One day she would go too far? The fists, the nasty screaming rages, they were getting worse and harder to hide from people at school. Maybe he was better off if it did. Maybe she would finally kill him. Blinking his heavy eyelids, they finally drifted shut. The last thought he had before he fell asleep made him smile. Freedom on the back of a motorcycle with Saint. He imagined a long road winding away from here.

When next he opened his eyes light spilled into his prison. Water spilled in rivulets down his face as he blinked.

“Get up Danny. It’s time for you to go to school.”

“School?” He wanted to kill his father. “Are you serious?”

“You have to,” his father slurred.

“Fuck you!”

“Quiet.” He looked over his shoulder. Probably seeing if dear old mom was coming to beat the shit out of him too. Danny would have laughed if it didn’t hurt so much. Waving his hand Danny’s way, his Father said, “Tell them you got into another fight.”

Danny went to his hands and knees. He groaned through the pain and caught his breath. Grabbing for the wall, he lost his balance and struggled to get up. “I can’t keep giving the same excuse. Look at me,” his voice rumbled as he winced every time he moved to get out of the closet. Unlike his mother’s closet, it didn’t hold designer clothes and shoes that cost more than everything in his closet. He always had to beg for things he needed. Always.

When he was little, he’d dreamed he was adopted, which would have been a blessing. Danny had run a few times; his birth parents were out there somewhere, he’d thought. The last time he’d left, he’d screamed in her face. “I’m leaving to find my real parents.” His mother had laughed until tears had formed in her eyes. “You think you’re adopted,” she’d said.” He thought she wouldn’t give him any more explanation, but the light in her eyes gleamed with hatred that felt like a creature boring under his skin. To his surprise, she said, “Your Grandfather said I wouldn’t inherit what is rightfully mine unless I gave him a grandson. Your Daddy sure couldn’t get it up.” His father had been standing in the room with a far off look in his eyes that Danny hadn’t understood until she spoke again. “I fucked my way through my Father’s men and finally pushed out a kid.” His father had flinched and looked away. Then all Danny could feel was the pain. She punched him in the face. It was the first time she’d locked him in the closet. Danny was seven. “You’ll stay in there until you understand who has the power here.” After he’d screamed himself silent, his mind had blanked, and the darkness consumed him.

Danny pushed past the memory and the man that wasn’t his father sucking air through his teeth with every needling breath. When his so-called father tried to reach out and give some support, Danny weaved the other way and almost fell. “Don’t’ touch me,” he squeaked. He wrapped his arm around his ribs and walked toward his bathroom.

Most people thought he was a trouble maker so steered clear of him, but no one knew the extent of the control his mother had over him, when he could come and go, how he did it, what he wore, ate…everything. He wasn’t to have friends over, he wasn’t allowed to be seen going in and out of the house, so nobody knew the hell he lived. His mother hid the carnage she’d made of his life well. If he did go out, he couldn’t tell anyone what was happening to him, and his mother had too much power in their small town. Danny knew that much. But he’d told Saint.

“Stupid.”

If his mother or grandfather ever found out what he’d told Saint, Saint would be in danger. Danny knew it. He just knew it.

Danny had been able to sneak out of the house a lot more lately. His mother had to go on more business trips. It was the only time he was nearly happy until Saint put him on a motorcycle. When Danny wrapped his fingers around the grips of the bike and finally revved the engine for the first time, feeling the power underneath him, it was the first time in forever he was truly happy.

He sniffled and wiped his face. “Shit!”

Danny would chance running away again, but he thought someone watched him now. So he gave up. He’d given up on a lot of things. Until Saint.

He would find a way to race, though. Sitting on the motorcycle had been a revelation. Saint said being smaller was a good thing. He hated being smaller than other kids. But in racing, it gave him an advantage. He would do whatever Saint said if he could race. He’d find a way to get out of the house, do what he needed to, have a life. He would die trying if he had too.

Danny’s body jerked to attention. The banging on his bathroom door turned into a great thud. His father probably hit the wall. “Hurry up, Danny. Don’t keep your mother waiting.”

He moved as fast as his body would let him. Danny didn’t want to give her any reason to hurt him again. He winced as he finished washing the dried blood off his cheek and the fat lip. He grabbed the hat that hung from the door. Covered his head, didn’t bother to change clothes. He didn’t care if he was dirty or not. It kept everyone away. He couldn’t afford to have anyone ask questions.

Through the door, his father gripped his shoulder hard trying to hold himself up. He leaned in too far. The smell of booze was making him sick to his stomach. “She’s going on a trip, Danny. Run Danny. Don’t come back.” Danny’s mouth gaped open.

“Run! Are you crazy!” No answer. His father slid to the floor and passed out.

“Pathetic.”

Danny jumped when he looked up and saw his mother. He sucked in a breath, hit the wall and bit his lip so he wouldn’t cry out in pain. A cold sweat broke out across his skin as an acidic wash swirled in his stomach.

His mother jerked her head. Danny skirted around his father’s crumpled body and hurried toward his door, out of his mother’s reach. But she grabbed onto his neck digging her pointed nails into his skin. A hiss escaped his lips. She laughed.

“You’ll be back here after school. One of my father’s men will pick you up.” His shoulders slumped under her grip. “Did you hear me?” Her fingers gripped his hair, and she forced him to nod.

“Yes, Mother.”

Danny’s day was shit. He’d run into possibly every person that had been at the Speedway the day of his only lesson. When he hit the parking lot at school, the only girl from class, Tina, showed up.

“What do you want?” he snapped.

Tina’s eye’s narrowed, and she crossed her arms. “I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“Whatever.” He started to move away but then she grabbed his arm before he turned away. His body jerked and he jumped away like a scared cat. “Shit!”

“Are you afraid of me?” He looked up at her face to see the look of disgust in her eyes, but they were full and bright.

“No!” Danny couldn’t look her in the eyes when he said it. He peeked up long seconds later.

Her eyebrows angled down, and she bit her bottom lip. She stepped back with a complete look of confusion, “Are you really okay?”

Danny took a stuttering breath. “I’ll be fine.” He needed to get away from her. Tina seemed nice. She was really pretty too, and her boobs were bigger than most of the girls in his classes, but he couldn’t trust anyone. No way. Not a girl. Especially Tina, because every time he was around her, his stomach got all weird. It wasn’t right. He wasn’t right.

“Will I see you at Paulson’s?” she said at the same time he heard his name called from the parking lot. He turned too fast and clenched his teeth so he wouldn’t scream like a girl.

“Shut up!” he snapped at her. He looked over his shoulder and saw one of his mother’s minions marching across to him. “Shit! Shit! Shit!”

“Danny?” Tina asked just as a hand grabbed his shoulder.

“I gotta go.”

“Who’s your friend, Danny?” He looked up and saw Gunner’s eyes on Tina. His mother’s guard was not to be messed with, but he couldn’t let him know who this girl was.

“No one.” He watched Tina frown.

“Huh,” he grunted. “Let’s go.” Another wince, along with Gunner’s fingers on his shoulder, and he was turned toward the car waiting off a nearby alley school. No one would be the wiser to how rich he was. How rich his mother was.

“Bye, Danny. I hope I see you at the Speedway for riding lessons,” she yelled. Great! He thought.

“What Speedway, Danny?”

He shrugged.

Gunner opened the door to the Lincoln MKZ when they reached the hidden garage. He helped Danny into his seat gentler than he ever expected. Danny looked up at the big man and saw that he was taking in every nick and scratch that marked him. Gunner backed up and slammed the door. Danny looked straight ahead. The bigger guy had never reacted to his injuries this way. Why was it happening now?

“Did your mother take her fists to you again?”

Duh! Danny didn’t answer. The guy would tell his mother what he said anyway.

Danny watched him straighten his arms on the steering wheel like he would push it through the dashboard. “Tell me,” he roared. Danny pulled back and hit the passenger door. He watched Gunner ease a couple of breaths in and out.

“Danny, I’m not going to hurt you.”

“Coulda fooled me,” he snapped back. Gunner’s head snapped around his eyes narrowing. He braced for him to strike. The air was thick in the car and the minutes seemed to slow right into the heaviness that was his life. And then the guy smiled. Danny took the time to figure this guy out. Danny had trusted Saint. He’d said the same thing. Should he answer? But there was no way he could trust one of his mother’s men. Was there? The way Gunner’s anger had spiked when he’d seen him. Maybe he could trust the guy. He nodded.

Gunner’s chin tipped down, and he inhaled real slow and blew it out even slower.

“What’s at the Speedway?”

“Nothing.”

“Come on Danny, tell me. I told you not to be afraid of me.”

Danny laughed and regretted it. His ribs hurt like hell. “Afraid?” He laughed some more and then for the life of him he just broke. His shoulders slumped and shook as he cried. He looked away and wiped his face.

“It’s freedom on two wheels,” Danny finally whispered.

“All right then.”

Gunner put the car in gear, and they quickly left the dark garage. When he headed in the opposite direction of home Danny started to freak out. “What are you doing? Where are we going?”

Gunner looked over and smiled again. The man kept driving.

When they pulled up at Paulson’s, Danny sat stiff and unsure. “What are we doing here?”

“We’re going to talk to whoever’s in charge.” Gunner sighed. “I’m not who you think I am, Danny.”

What did that mean?

“Now get out.”

“But,” Danny started, and was soon talking to air. He got out as fast as he could and followed Gunner. When Danny saw Saint come out of Paulson’s main office, he didn’t know what he should do, but evidently Gunner had no problem figuring out what was what.

“You the man in charge?” Gunner asked.

“Yeah. Who’s asking?” Saint crossed his arms and stopped moving.

“Gunner Phillips. You’ll continue to give him lessons.”

Danny watched as Saint’s eyes narrowed on Gunner, and then turned to him. Danny could see his jaw get tight and his eye start to tick in the corner. Saint looked back to Gunner, and they stared each other down. What, were they havin’ a secret ‘convo’ or somethin’. Jesus! What was going on?

“Did his mother do that to him?”

Gunner nodded.

Danny sucked in a breath. Gunner admitted his mother beat the shit out him. He bunched over and grabbed his ribs his breaths turning into coughs. Soon there were more hands on him then he could deal with, and he started to struggle to feel trapped.

“Leave me alone,” he gasped. He backed away from both of them. Saint stood and watched his face easing. Gunner put his hands up and took a step back.

“You okay?” Saint asked. It was Danny’s turn to nod. “Who is this guy, Danny?”

“I don’t know,” he said looking right at the man that worked for his mother. Maybe he had more friends than he knew.

Fine Dining

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2016-05 PicFor centuries I’ve lain buried, engulfed in sand. Tricked by tribesmen and trapped so deeply I cannot move. At first, I survived by eating the bugs and crawlers that were able to dig that far down. Barely maintaining my massive bulk, across ages, with contemptible morsels, I crave a hearty meal. Human flesh to eat and blood to drink.

My heart leapt the day muffled sound came through the sand. Silence had reigned for so long I forgot I possessed the sense of hearing. I dared to think the noise signaled that I would soon be released from my prison. Instead, the sound teased me by growing louder then softer, over and over again for decades. Despair consumed me till I realized that even when the noise receded, the sound remained stronger than before. After that, the ebb and flow of the noise stoked my thirst for revenge. So I waited.

Eventually the sand around me began to change temperature. I no longer sat in constant cold. I imagined the sun rising when the sand warmed then setting as the sand cooled. Larger creatures, crabs and sand worms, made their way to me. Better meals to boost my strength. Still, I longed to suck on the corpse of one of the warriors who put me here.

More intense and more often than I remember, hurricanes have torn at the sand above me. Today, I sense another storm starting. The sound of the wind builds. I feel the pounding of the rain. The storm dredges the sand. I am near the surface now, but still too confined to move. I feel air upon one of the spines protruding from my back. Oh glorious! With a few more rushes of wind, the rain falls directly on my skin. The wind and rain stop. No! I weep in anguish.

An hour passes. The wind picks up again with more ferocity than before. My snout escapes and my head breaks through the sand. The storm scrapes across my long front limbs. Though my hind limbs remain buried, I rejoice in the freedom I have gained.

I am weak from hunger, but that will change. My camouflage is exquisite. I look like nothing more than driftwood washed up on the shore. I will rest until someone comes to me. After all, the best meals are worth the wait.

River Crossing

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2016-04 PicI must have been five years old the first time Mama warned me about the river. I let go of her hand and ran into the cold water ‘til it covered my bare feet up to the ankles. Before I could go any further, Mama grabbed my wrist and yanked me back onto the shore.

Her gaze blazed through me. “Don’t you ever go trying to cross the river, girl! Even if you make it, the evil on the other side will do you in.” Though young as I was, I sensed that I ought not try to explain I only wanted to cool my feet.

In the thirteen years since, I’ve heard that warning from her hundreds of times. She varies the words some, but she always puts the same stress on the last three words, “do you in.” Every time she says it, the same fear that shook me at five years old comes back to sizzle through me from head to toe.

Sometimes, I sit on a boulder and watch the river and the forest on the other side. The dangers of the river are clear. Water plunges down a bunch of tall, steep drop-offs that line up one right after another. Lose your balance on the slippery rocks and the river will sweep you away, knock you unconscious, and make you helpless as water fills your lungs, bit by bit, ‘til you are dead.

I respect Mama’s warning about the river. What I don’t get is the part about the evil on the other side. I asked Papa about it once. He just pursed his lips and said, “Mind your mother, Jilly.” I never asked anyone else. ‘Cause if I spoke Mama’s business to anyone but her, she’d ground me for weeks and not let me talk to anyone ‘til she cooled off.

Now, I feel a bitter, deep loneliness. Papa died last year. High school graduation day has passed. Things are changing and Mama stays the same. She wants me to stay the same, too. But today, for the first time in thirteen years, I stand barefoot in the river with cool water up to my ankles. Staring, staring at the other side.

 

Hot Blacktop Ch. 10 – Italian

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Rustic candles on wooden backgroundSaint drove up to Sienna’s country house and pulled into the drive. He sat staring, thinking for just a moment. He didn’t want to scare her when he went up to the door. Saint wanted to wrap his arms around her and never let her go, tell her that she would be safe, Danny would be safe. But, he didn’t think she would believe him.

Since the blowup with Danny two days ago, Sienna was the only thing on his mind. When she wouldn’t let him in yesterday, since she’d run away from him, from Danny, he’d panicked. When they say the eyes are the windows to the soul, Sienna’s soul was bleak. Her eyes were a vast ocean of pain, breaking waves cutting into the sand at shore, each slice digging deeper and deeper eroding the shore’s strength.

He closed his eyes and thought of Sienna when she was under him, how she had responded to him, how she had screamed for him in her pleasure. Saint would show her what they could have together, show her a future where he would cherish her heart.

He saw the front curtain move as he got out of his truck. Even if Saint couldn’t convince Sienna, at the moment, of what they were to each other, he knew she wanted him in her life. He took the porch stairs two at a time, and she opened the door before he reached it. A smile came to his face when he saw the skin tight dress she was wearing for him, but then he frowned when what greeted him appeared forced somehow.

“Hi,” Sienna said. She didn’t move so he walked into her personal space, grabbed and lifted her chin as he took her mouth with a gentle brush of his lips.

“Hey, baby.”

“Maybe we shouldn’t go,” Sienna said in an abrupt whisper. She tried to pull away, but he pulled her closer.

“You need a distraction, so I’m taking you to dinner, the little Italian place off Main downtown. You promised.”

“Right,” she responded looking away, but he turned her face back to his.

“Mm, hmm.” He kissed her soundly. “Grab your purse.”

They didn’t say much on the ride to the restaurant, but he glanced at her often just to be sure she was okay. Saint kept his hand on her in some way, caressing her hair, drawing a finger down her cheek, or keeping a hand on her leg. Her dress had ridden up when she’d gotten in the truck exposing her legs. It was a difficult thing to keep his need for her in check. He’d almost decided to turn the truck around, take her back to her place, and show her how he could make her feel loved, with his mouth, his hands, and more. He let his eyes wander every few seconds, enjoying the sight of her.

He pulled up to the front of the restaurant all too quickly, got out, helped her down and walked her to the door. “I’ll be right back after I park my truck. She smiled at him, and he couldn’t help but pull her in for another quick kiss that stirred his blood and made her eyes flare with heat. Her fingers dug into his biceps as he deepened the kiss one second longer. Then he made himself pull away.

“Mmm. That was nice,” Sienna said before Saint watched her eyes shutter. She looked away. He was getting to her, and it flustered her. He smiled to himself.

Once he had the truck parked he returned to Sienna. His eyes narrowed. Something was wrong, her body was stiff and her movements choppy. “Are you alright?”

Sienna whirled around. Saint caught her before she stumbled, grabbed her arms and held her close. Her hand went to his chest.

“You scared me.”

“What’s going on?” Saint wrapped his arm around her and stared into her eyes. She shook her head and didn’t answer.

“I thought I saw someone.” She tried to look away. “Never mind.”

He held her gaze with a finger on her chin. He finally nodded and gave her a little squeeze. “Come on. Let’s have dinner.” He moved her to the small hosting stand. Saint would address her scare later.

“Hey, Taz,” Saint said.

“Hey, Mr. Paulson. This way.”

Taz led them to the patio outside Sienna looked to him. He said, “Taz is an intern at Paulson’s.” He whispered in her ear. “He’s a good kid, starting out on scholarship this year through the local vocational school; a scholarship created in my sister’s name. It’s for kids who’ve overcome addiction.” He shrugged. He didn’t want to talk about his sister tonight.

“Just like you requested,” Taz said.

Sienna lifted an eyebrow when he helped her toward their table. “We have the whole patio to ourselves?” There weren’t any other place settings on the other tables.

The atmosphere was nice. Outdoor heaters staved off the chill brought on by late July in Michigan. He felt the goosebumps on her skin when they first stepped out of the warm restaurant. Nights below forty were more frequent than they had been just a few weeks ago. But, he could tell Sienna hadn’t expected all this. Good, he thought. Candles lit their area, the glow bounced their silhouettes off the stone walls, soft music played in the background, and the mood, he saw, captured her attention. He enjoyed the soft smile on her face as her shoulders relaxed. Taz smiled and set the menus on the table, and Saint pulled out her chair and kissed her neck below her ear. Just his nearness made her breaths come faster. He enjoyed her response more than he thought he could.

“I’ve noticed something about you,” Sienna said, tilting her head when she spoke the words.

“What’s that?” he asked as he sat down opposite her, but still close, intertwining his fingers with hers. Taz stopped back at the table with bread and a bottle of wine he preselected. She tried to pull away, but he held firm. She shook her head. He was determined to make this date special, and he hoped she believed it, believed in him. Saint wasn’t going to leave her.

“You have this habit, Saint, of helping people. A lot. Going out of your way. Don’t you worry people will take advantage?”

“Some people are worth it.” Saint brushed his lips across her knuckles. He watched her eyes widen in surprise and a shiver race across her body. Her eyes went heavy lidded. Saint would make her shiver much more, later.

They ordered another bottle of wine and entrees, and conversation flowed. The food was incredible. It was nice sharing a meal with her, letting her know how it could be. Trusting him, he hoped.

Saint listened to Sienna tell him about her jewelry designs and how Megan had convinced her that together they could make a go of Twisted Metal. Her face lit up and that made him smile. The joy there, and that she shared it with him, was special. She asked about the speedway and his classes. He didn’t bring up how he included Danny in his new class, but skirted around the fact it was him.

“A new kid started with the class today. Or rather, I signed him up myself.” He smiled thinking about the glee on Danny’s face.

“There’s something about this kid that just…” Saint stopped to gather his thought. “He’s intuitive when it comes to motorcycles. It’s like he can see what’s going to happen before it happens. When I showed videos about how to handle the bikes on blacktop, when I stopped the video, asked them questions about what might happen next, he knew the answers. The kids amazing. He reminds me a little of Chris when Chris and I first started riding.”

She frowned. “How old is the rider?”

“He’s thirteen.”

“Don’t you need a parent’s consent for him to be in your class?

He laughed and brushed off her concern. “I’ll get permission. Don’t worry. He comes around the track all the time.” Luckily she didn’t ask any more questions.

Throughout dinner, he made sure he touched her in some way, her hand, a brush of his leg against her, or the touch of his fingers on her cheek in a soft caress. He tried everything to make her more aware of him. He even insisted on feeding her dessert. With each bite of the crème brulee, she took, his cock grew harder.

“Mm,” she purred with the last spoonful of sweet custard. “Delicious.” She licked her lips and he almost groaned.

“Check!”

They walked out of the restaurant, he pulled her close and kissed her hard, their bodies aligning, his arousal pressing painfully for more room. He would take her to his bed tonight and show her that he loved her. And he knew it deep in his soul that he would never let her go. Sienna was his forever. Convincing her was the only obstacle.

“I’ll be right back.” He tapped her neck with a soft kiss and took off toward the truck.

Heading back toward the restaurant he saw Sienna stumble. A woman shoved her. Sienna hit the side of the building.

“What the hell!” Saint jumped out, and got to Sienna just as the woman’s fingers dug into Sienna’s skin.

“Mom, stop! You’re hurting me. Stop. Please, stop.” Sienna’s fear was a physical thing all but casting a net around the whole area, he could almost feel it. Saint grabbed the woman’s arm and pulled her hard. The movement strong but controlled. He didn’t want to hurt the haggard woman. The old woman turned her glare onto him, Saint saw the dark inset eyes, the anger, the addiction that pulled her flesh tight to her bones, the decay, the holes in her skin. It was all too familiar.

“You have to get it for me, Sienna. I need it!” The woman screeched pointing a finger at her. “You owe me this!”

Sienna took a step toward her mother, to do what he didn’t know. He did know he wouldn’t let this person hurt Sienna. He pulled her back into his body turning her becoming a protective shield.

“You get it for me,” the woman yelled as she backed away. Her eyes looked everywhere and nowhere, her body twitched making her clumsy. “I’ll be waiting. Just like I told you.”

“Mom.” Sienna struggled in his arms to go after the woman.

“Mom?” Saint’s heart broke as she tried to move from his arms still.

When the woman was out of sight, Sienna crumbled. He lifted her and set her in the passenger seat, got himself in and pulled off the curb. “Your mother?”

“Yes,” she said, her voice so small he barely heard her.

“How long has she been addicted to drugs?”

“Since I…since, I was a kid.” The tears came now. “But she never tried to hurt me before.” He took her hand and didn’t let go. Her voice droned on now. “I’d see her with prescription bottles.” She paused. “She hurt herself at work. I don’t know exactly how, but it was bad. She needed the pills she said.” Wiping her eyes, she continued. “I noticed the orange bottles more and more. That’s when I started to go to Megan’s more. She’d started to blame me for everything. Dad started to…he started to hit her more.” She sucked in a breath, and it wavered as she let it out. “When she started not to come home sometimes, he blamed me like she blamed me for all their problems.” Saint gripped her hand harder and thought he knew where this was going. “When he didn’t have an outlet with my mother that’s when he started in on me. And then she didn’t come home at all.”

“Jesus.”

“She left me with him. I haven’t seen her until tonight.”

Sienna looked up at him and looked around. They had reached Paulson’s a few minutes ago, and hadn’t noticed. He got out and once again helped her out of the truck and took her up to the loft. He moved her with ease, drew her down on the sofa and onto his lap. And let his head fall against her neck snuggling where he knew she liked it best.

“What, what are you doing?” she asked him.

“I’m taking care of you.”

“But why? Why would you want to be with me after seeing what I came from? She didn’t think I was worth anything, why should you?”

Saint twisted her around, so she faced him. He didn’t give her time to pull away. Her dress inched upward and he pulled her in flush to his growing arousal. He kissed behind her ear, stroked her hair, wrapped it around his fingers drawing her head back to get better access to the bare skin near her collarbone. He bit her gently and then replaced his teeth with his tongue, to ease the sting. She whimpered.

“Why?” He kissed her quick and hard. Her eyes opened when he pulled gently on her hair, and she stared at him. “Because,” he said. “I love you.”

“No.” she gasped. “No,” she said again. “I’m not worth it.”

“You so are,” he said and dove back in to show her just how much he meant what he said.

Hot Blacktop Ch. 8 – Twisted Metal

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Mature Content. Sienna’s hands shook. She was tired, but she needed to finish this necklace. The silver metal fired orange as Sienna soldered the second medallion to the first. She hadn’t slept well the whole week, and her mind still stuck on Saint’s words as she left him at the Speedway.

Rotating her shoulders, she glanced at the jewelry that lies on a velvet pad, the fruition of a week’s worth of work and worry. The designs were good even if her creative drive came from the ride she’d taken with Saint. All she’d thought about the past week was him. The way he made her feel, the things he said to her, or did, the flowers and short notes that hadn’t stopped since the first. There was no possible way to forget that he wanted her. He didn’t need to continue the romantic barrage, but she secretly loved it. Sienna couldn’t ignore their chemistry any longer. Even now, thinking about him got her stirred up.

Sienna lay the tip of the soldering tool against the short lip where the stone would sit, and dabbed it with solder to hold another petal in place. With everything that had happened between her and Saint since they met, she was glad she could concentrate enough to adapt the designs that blazed through her mind after their ride. Their ‘stargazing’ not at all influencing her mad dash to draw. “Right!” She snorted.

Arriving home that night of the ride, images of new jewelry had been a saving grace. Trying to sleep had been useless, so she holed up in her design studio, to draw the barrage of images for a new jewelry line. The only reason she’d stopped was the sun had peaked over the hillside, washed the landscape with a warm fiery red, and her stomach growled.

She’d rubbed her eyes and stretched her back and stared at the flashes of color and metal on vellum she’d drawn. It was her best work. Sienna took a nap after she ate and jumped in to start sculpting each form at Twisted Metal, her and Meg’s jewelry store. And now it was the end of the week and Sienna was wrapping up the last piece in the series getting ready for the next phase.

Each piece in some way came from the shape and contours of materials on Saint’s bikes, not just the one they rode last weekend, but the many she’d glimpsed in his garage.

The bottom medallion she worked on was a solid piece of silver about .8mm thick, and the top circle was a play on positive and negative space using the wheels of the motorcycle as her example. In the center, a stone of black onyx would sit and rise above what she was calling petals for a more feminine touch, whereas the medallion she had designed for the men’s line was a bit chunkier and would be held by a leather cord, the onyx an inlay instead. It was delicate but strong, with the look and feel of motorcycle wheels.

After the last connection, Sienna stood and lifted her hands high over her head. She arched her back and then returned her arms to the front and then moved them down to clasp behind her back to stretch her shoulder blades.

Megs poked her head in the back her work studio location. “Hey baby-cakes, how goes it?”

“Just finishing up,” Sienna said scanning to see everything ready for finishing work.

Megs walked over. “Fantastic,” she nodded toward the work and crossed her arms. Sienna watched her head angle this way and that. “Damn girl, this is some of your best work!”

Sienna laughed. “Yeah,” is all she said.

“Sales were great today.”

“With the holidays coming on strong, I’m glad to hear it.” Sienna sat down to clean up some tools and got lost in her thoughts.

There was a tap on her shoulder. “Where’d you go?”

“Nowhere good, Megs.”

Sienna’s friend frowned, and her eyes narrowed. “Your dad was a shit!” Sienna laughed with little humor. Megan came around to Sienna’s back and wrapped her arms around Sienna’s shoulders to link them in front, and her cheek rested next to hers. Sienna sighed.

“I love you. You’re my best friend, Sienna.” Megan kissed her on the cheek and then stood up. “Speaking of happy, have you talked to Saint?”

Sienna put her elbows on the table and her head in her hands covering her face but then turned her head toward Megs. “No.” What Sienna wanted to say was that she’d called him and told him to stop sending all his beautiful presents, the flowers, and poems and that it was never going to happen between them. But somewhere in the middle of the week, she’d decided that she would jump into the deep end of her bottomless pool of lust—she’d convinced herself that’s all it was–and, at least, enjoy the sex. But who was she kidding. She was already emotionally involved. She was always emotionally involved. The damn man was under her skin. “I’m going to call him tonight.”

“Oh, really,” Megs dragged out.

Sienna stood up and gathered her purse and jacket, nodded once toward her friend as if she were still trying to convince herself. She reached to turn off the light, but Megs stepped in front of her. “Megs, it’s been a long day and my back is killing me.”

“Want to go to dinner, have a drink?”

Sienna took a deep breath and thought about her comfy bed and the sleep she needed. But she hadn’t spent a lot of time with Megs that week and said instead, “I could eat.”

“Good. Mexican?”

“Sure.”

When they headed out, she came up short. Saint stood in the showroom. She blinked not sure if he was real when her eyes drifted to the other person that stood next to him, what was his name again. Hot Guy No. 2? She could barely remember the night at the club.

She blinked again and turned when Saint strode toward her.

“Hey sweetheart,” he said and leaned over, drawing his lips softly over hers.

“What are you doing here?”

Saint glanced at Megan, she shrugged and walked toward Hot Guy No. 2. The man she recognized but didn’t know looked at Megs like she was a spoonful of the most decadent chocolate mousse he would soon devour. The heat in his eyes, so similar to the way Saint looked at her, was so strong, it made her tingle in all the right places. “Wow!”

Saint chuckled at her barely whispered comment and wrapped an arm around her to pull her close.

“If I weren’t so confident about the way I do it for you, I’d be a little jealous of the way you looked at my friend over there.”

He did that thing again where he kissed her neck, and she shivered. Yeah, Sienna had to concede that Saint really did do it for her.

“You ready to eat, baby?”

“You want to introduce me to Hot Guy No. 2?”

“What did you call him?” he asked with a laugh. But before she could repeat herself he said, “Never mind.” He guided her toward his friend. “Sienna this is Christof Yeager, MOTO Racer Extraordinaire,” he said and bowed with greatt plumage.

Megan giggled.

“Thanks for the intro, my friend. But your bow could be a little deeper,” Christof said with what sounded like a German accent laced with a lot of humor. The man looked back at her with a crooked smile that turned to concern and drawn down eyes glowing a surreal emerald, almost hypnotizing in their beauty. “It’s good to see you’re feeling better, Sienna.”

“Huh?” she stammered. Then Christof smiled, and a lone dimple creased his cheek. Damn he was good looking, she thought and blinked. “That night was awful.” Saint squeezed her closer. She elbowed him so he would give her some space. Christof’s smile grew even bigger as she watched him try and stifle a laugh.

“Ready to go?” Megs asked. Megan had scooted away and was just now coming back toward them with her purse in hand and stood next to Christof. Not too close, she noticed.

Just then Saint’s stomach let out quite a rumble. She looked at him as her eyebrows shot up. “I take it you’re ready to eat.”

“I haven’t eaten since breakfast.” His lip quirked at the corner. “My board track racer had all my attention today, I was supposed to be going over the Paulson Speedway financials, but I was too distracted thinking about a particular female to crunch numbers today. That would have been a total failure. So it was the café bike or nothing.” He kissed her on the nose and guided her toward the front of the shop. She heard Megan speak to Christof in clipped tones, not catching a bit of their conversation. She would have to corner her best friend for the details.

When they arrived at Over the Border, since it was an unusually warm night, they were able to snag seats on the front patio, and soon, each had a margarita with a lip of salt. “Mmm,” she groaned, then sighed.

“That good?” Saint asked.

“Yeah,” is all she said and went back to listening to Saint and Chris, which Saint called him for short, talk about motorcycles and the racing season. She didn’t understand a lot of what was said, but she enjoyed the way Saint’s voice got excited and the way his laugh rippled across her skin.

When their food came, they dug in and by the time she finished her last bite of quesadilla she was stuffed and ready to sleep. Just as she was about to tell Saint that she really needed to get home, she felt an odd tingle at the back of her neck and looked over her shoulder to see what it was that caught her attention, but when she looked around, there wasn’t anyone there.

“What is it?” Saint asked, his demeanor now totally alert.

“Nothing.”

“Your body says the opposite,” Saint returned. “You tightened up all over.”

She hadn’t noticed his arm around her. It felt natural so natural, unlike the times when Layton had shown similar affection.  “I don’t know.” She looked around. The shadows were deep, hiding anything and everything. “It felt like someone was watching me.” She looked up into his eyes and saw that the lines drawn down with worry. “Maybe it’s Danny.” His eyebrows shot up. Now Saint looked around. He squeezed her shoulder.

“He wouldn’t wander this far from home.”

“Who’s Danny,” Megs and Christof said over one another.

Saint explained how he’d met Danny. Concern lit both their faces.

“We’ve got to get him out of that home.” Saint froze next to her. When she turned toward him, he looked down at her. There was a pain in his eyes, and she thought of his sister. But how did the two relate? Christof looked angry. But why? What was wrong with helping the boy? “You said it was bad, Saint. Right? We can help him.”

“Sienna, there are a few things that you don’t know about Danny’s situation. He didn’t react well when you showed up at Paulson’s.” She was going to tell him they could figure out how to help, but then he put her off and said, “I’ll know how to help Danny.” He sighed. “If he doesn’t want help, though, I can’t force it on him.” Her heart hurt for the boy. Saint stroked her cheek, and it made her feel marginally better. “Come on, I’ll take you home.”

Christof and Saint argued over who would pay the bill. Christof won, Saint told her. She relaxed when Saint got her into his truck, the margaritas, and food making her sleepy. She’d left her car at the store, but Megs promised to pick her up in the morning. Though she was smiling, at the time, with a humorous light in her eyes Sienna was very suspicious.

Saint pulled into her driveway, and she turned toward him ready to say goodbye when he reached out and pulled her close. Or as close as the console would allow. His lips danced across hers so softly that she almost didn’t feel it, but she felt it in other places. Her breath caught in her throat as their eyes met in the almost dark. Stars glittered alongside the moon, and Saint’s eyes joined them in their nighttime folly.

Tonight was a turning point. She was going to push off into dark waters, pray they didn’t pull her under and beat her heart to a pulp. Leave her heart out of it, she kept telling herself. But she knew the truth. She wasn’t going into this focused only on lust. No. She liked him. The conversation was good at dinner. He had talked about teaching racing; his face lit up when he spoke of his students and how it felt when their race times decreased. Saint loved teaching. She could see it in his smiles and the pride behind his words.

“Invite me in, Sienna.” She was about to tell him, yes, but he took her words away as his mouth came down on hers. She opened for him giving him everything. She wasn’t sure who groaned first when he pulled away. “Invite me in,” Her breaths came hard and fast and all she could give was a nod. Before she knew it Saint was at her side of the truck, the door open and her in his arms.

“You don’t have to carry me!” He flashed a smile. She leaned back and looked up at the sky, resigned to his Neanderthal ways. She secretly loved it.

They reached the front door, and he set her down, she pulled out her keys and fumbled them as he came up behind her, dropped kisses and swipes of his tongue along her neck. So turned on she could barely get the key in the lock. They practically fell into the house. He lifted her before she took a nose dive and pulled her back to him. His hands at her hips glided up the sides of her torso under her coat and brushed along the outside of her breasts. She leaned back and let him take over.

Coats hit the floor, and Saint moved them toward the stairs. He didn’t stop touching her. Just before they would have reached her room, he grabbed her hips and spun her around his lips coming down on hers. It wasn’t soft. It was feverish and possessive. What had been building between them for the past few weeks exploded in a torrent of motion, fingers splayed, mouths nipped, kisses deep and wild. His tongue joined the foray, and she didn’t disappoint him, tangling hers with as much force as Saint’s. Her lips would bruise. She didn’t care. Sienna grabbed his shirt, forced him to slide across the wall. They bumped past the door jamb and stumbled through the archway, only to catch themselves when they hit the top of the bed.

Both wrestled for the advantage over the other, arms and legs tangled and laughter filled the room until their eyes met and the heat between them flashed and came to life again. Saint grabbed Sienna’s shirt and pulled it up over her head. He groaned because of what she wore. The sheer red shelf bra had been the only thing clean. It wasn’t her favorite because it made her skin a pasty white.

“Holy shit!” Saint licked his lips. Sienna just about had a spontaneous orgasm from the primal look he gave her.

“Saint?”

He didn’t answer. But he responded to her question, his eyes intent on hers until he closed in on a straining nipple. When his tongue darted out and skimmed across her covered taut flesh, once, twice, all she could do was groan his name. Sienna sank her hands into his hair and held on for dear life. His whole mouth covered her breast, and she arched into him. He sucked harder, and couldn’t help but grind her sex into his hard length through their layers of clothing.

She bit her bottom lip to hold in a scream. He continued to torment her other breast, and she said, “Clothes off, clothes off. I need to feel you.”

“Sweetheart, I’m not done playing yet.”

“Please,” she pleaded. Saint took to her other breast again, but when she arched against his mouth, straining to get closer, his hands went to her back, unhooked her bra and she was bare to him, as he drew it down her arms, well, at least, her top half. She was small, and her hands automatically went to cover her breasts, but he grabbed her hands, and she had no time to react, he pressed her hands above her head onto the mattress. Sienna started to shake from the inside out, the walls of her core pulsing to catch up with the blood that pumped so hard through her veins she thought she would pass out from pleasure.

Saint released his grip, but she wanted his mouth back on her breast and grabbed onto his head. He would have none of that. “Leave them, Sienna. I know what you need.”

“But…” He shook his head.

As he started to lick his way down her body, the starting line each breast again, she let him do what he wanted. She never had it so good, not with Layton, not with any of the other men she’d been with, which hadn’t been a lot. Her fingers clawed at the comforter, his tongue circling each nipple in turn but not consuming each again. She needed to hold onto something or she would lose herself. Was that her that mewed like a desperate animal. “Oh, God!”

Saint laughed and he didn’t stop. He came within an inch of her panty line…wait when did he take off her pants. “Ohhhh!” His tongue touched under the lace that lined her panties. “Saint, please! Do something, anything. I need…”

“I’ll get where you need me to go, but in a minute.”

“No!” Her hands came off the bed desperate to get him naked. How quickly she would do that she didn’t know, but he needed to have fewer clothes on. She reached for his zipper.

He flipped her onto her stomach, and Saint’s body covered hers immobilizing her, she let out a frustrated scream, but then he whispered in her ear.

“Baby. Sienna. I’m gonna fuck you so good, you’re gonna sleep for a week. Let me take care of you.”

Something in her seemed to answer his non-question and her body sank into the bed. He must have felt her relax because he took over her pleasure again. His lips kissed a line down her body starting at her neck and didn’t stop until he reached the divots at her lower back. His tongue circled, and his lips kissed, when he moved his fingers down and caressed the top of her butt and slowly drew down her panties that were just as sheer as her bra, his lips never stopped touching her. She was soaking wet, and Saint had no problem letting her know just how wet she was.

“Mmm,” he hummed along her skin. She was going to die. There was so much pleasure, she couldn’t fathom what came next, and he hadn’t even touched her pussy yet. And then he did. With his mouth. He grabbed onto her hips and pulled her up. “On your knees.” It was then she noticed that his voice trembled. He was affected as much as she. Sienna looked over her shoulder, and he came off the bed and fell to his knees on the floor pulling her back to him in the process, and she had a hard time staying up on her knees. But he took control again, their eyes met, and his mouth was right there, her core spasmed. “Ahhh!” He didn’t let up, the sucking, the laps of his tongue, her juices flowing into his mouth. She was going to die from orgasmic pleasure.

“That’s it baby, rock on my mouth.” Sienna didn’t stop. Saint proved he could rock her world with just his tongue, and she came undone. “Come, now!” He whispered, but she heard.

“Saint! Saint!” His name was a litany of thanks as Sienna’s orgasm spiraled up and coiled tighter and tighter until her body splintered apart. The brittle stability of her control exploded outward like the universe had made a new star. She fell to her stomach.

Her hot breath puffed on the comforter, her hair wet and tangled over her eyes. She body felt heavy and sated, and she couldn’t catch up when Saint grabbed her hips and helped her flip over onto her back again. She looked up at him as he towered over her at the end of the bed, his body shadowing hers as he looked down at her. His fingers grabbed the back of his shirt, and he pulled it over his head. Next off, his pants. Her heavy-lidded eyes tracked every muscle as they rippled, every hard line of flesh that her lips would kiss in mere seconds. There was so much to touch and taste that she didn’t know where to start. She went to sit up, but Sienna froze as he took down his boxers, his hard cock a pulsing beacon. He was thick and long and all hers. She wanted him in her mouth, but before she could scoot to the end of the bed and take hold of his hard length, Saint pushed her back down on the bed and crawled up her body and started all over again. When she had had another orgasm, even better than the first one, she thought she wouldn’t survive the night, but Saint made it clear she would make it through the night and into the morning. At some point, Saint had found a condom and rolled it on. He came down on her body but didn’t enter her right away. He took her lips again and managed to glide his sex across her parted labia, and she couldn’t help the groan that came with the easy glide, she was so sensitive she couldn’t help it.

He continued to rock back and forth, slicking himself up. “Sienna, look at me.” When had she closed her eyes? “Sienna, sweetheart?” When he said her name like that followed by the endearment her eyes fluttered open, and that’s when he entered her. She gasped as he filled her in one easy stroke and held himself fully in her. His groan, this time, matched her own and then he started to move. At first, it was a slow easy slide in and out, but soon it wasn’t about taking his time, it was about the pleasure that was consuming them both. She could see it on his face, his jaw in a tight snarl, his eyes burning for her. She knew what it was to feel that much because he had just taken her on the same ride and he was doing it again. When his hips started to slam into her and his face sank into her hair, and his mouth went to her neck, and his teeth opened to grip the spot he liked to kiss, he was more animal than man, letting his body take over, Sienna couldn’t get enough of it. She had never had a man take over her body, as all-consuming as Saint. It was glorious in its light.

And it was light. She was out of the dark. Saint had brought her out of the dark she’d been trapped in for too long. But as her mind spun she got lost in her fear. Did he really want her or was he using her for his pleasure? Saint must have felt the change in her because his mouth came off her and he lifted his head and looked down into her eyes. There was too much there, in his stare, and she tried to shut him out, but Saint held her chin in his fingers, the fierce gaze he set on her never leaving her, forcing her to match his stare. A tear spilled over onto her cheek, and he caught it with a finger and started to move again. It was slow, in and out, his focus never leaving her, with each heated press of his hips meeting hers she became lost to him. Soon, too soon, her orgasm was just out of reach again, the walls of her core dancing with each thrust from Saint. His length surged deep inside her over and over, the kinetic energy between them almost a wild thing now. Flesh against flesh, the grunts that came from him and Sienna, the slick skin under her fingers, the only thing that existed in her world was this man inside her.

“Are you ready to come for me again?”

She nodded, but her mind screamed that she needed to hold on longer, her head moved back and forth now. This might be the last time they would be together. People didn’t stay around to be a part of Sienna’s life. she wasn’t worth the time. Saint would leave.

“No Sienna,” he grunted on another push and a groan followed as her inner walls gripped him so hard that Sienna thought she would have lost it, but somehow she pulled it back, waiting for Saint, his voice somehow grounding her. “I want to hear you say it aloud. Say it,” he finished as he gritted his teeth.

“Yes, I’m ready to come,” the words a breathy entreaty that thickened the air in the room. “Make me come, Saint. Make me come.” When the words ended, Saint gripped her hips and lifted them to bring her closer. He slammed into her harder than she thought possible and that’s all it took. He held tight to her hips and ground down on her pussy making her clit flair, hot, cold, she didn’t know. She went off the edge of the precipice she had been hanging on and fell. Her backed arched and Saint held her tight, grinding against her taut nub when his cock started to pulse inside her, his roar, one of satisfaction and that of a conqueror.

They panted in time with one another when Saint came down on her rolling them both to their sides. He wrapped his arms around her, and she felt safe for the first time in her life. But could she trust the feelings he brought to her. Could she trust him? She shook her head.

“You okay?”

She burrowed into the pillow making it seem like that’s what she’d been doing in the first place. Sienna didn’t want to answer because she didn’t know if she was or would ever be alright again.

Saint pulled away and got up to take care of the condom. “Sienna, baby?” he asked once beside her again.

Still she didn’t speak.

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. He kissed her at the base of her neck where his teeth had gripped and controlled her. Silent tears ran hot down her cheeks and she shivered in fear of what came next?