Taming Blaze (18 page)

“Are you okay?”

“I think I just dozed off.  How long have I been in here?”  I felt groggy and my mouth was thick, like cotton.

“A few hours.  I didn’t want to disturb
you.  It’s a lot to take in.”

I nodded numbly, and he walked inside, kneeling between my le
gs and taking my hands in his.

“I
don’t know what to say, Dani.”

“My mother,” I said.  “She left all these letters.  She knew she might die.  She knew my father- Guillermo- might kill her.”

“I know,” Blaze said.  He stroked the back of my hand, his touch soft.

“She was leaving for me.  She wanted to take me away from him, away from that life.  And the day she died, she dropped me off at school, and I was too embarrassed to be seen with her.”  I laughed bitterly.  “Can you believe that?  I didn’t want my stupid friends to see her kiss me goodbye.  It was the last thing she wanted, the last time I saw her- and all I wanted to do
was go see my stupid friends.”

“You were
only a kid.  You didn’t know.”

But I couldn’t stop, the list of my faults continuing to pour out of me, overflowing like a faucet.  “And my father.  I knew who he was.  I took his mon
ey and I stayed.  Blood money.”

“Dani, you didn’t know.  You were a kid.  You had no idea he killed your mother.”  He sounded so calm and rational.

“But I knew who he was.  It’s why I begged to go to boarding school.  In my gut I knew.”

“You didn’t know he killed
her, and you were just a child.”

“But I knew he wasn’t a good guy.  And then I came home, after what happened with Billy.”  I was dizzy, my thoughts coming so fast I couldn’t keep up with them.  My head was spinning.

“I could have anticipated he would have Billy killed.  Billy’s blood.  It’s on my hands.”  I was rambling, my thoughts disjointed.

“Dani,” Blaze said, his palms on the sides of
my face.  “Look at me, Dani.”

I looked into his eyes
.  He was the person who kept grounding me, though all of this.  “I have blood on my hands.”

“Dani.”

“I’m responsible for Billy’s death.”

“Breathe,” he said again.  “We didn’t take Billy out
, remember?  He's probably in Europe or something right now.  I told the club to hold off on it.  Something about it wasn’t right.”

“You didn’t do the hit.”

“No."

“Not yet.”  I repeated it stupidly.

“I won’t promise we aren’t going to go fuck him up,” Blaze said.  “He needs to learn how to treat other people.  But we won’t kill him.”

“You’re not like him,” I said.

“Billy?  I hope not.”

“My father.  You’re not like my father.” 
Not my father.
I corrected myself.  “Guillermo.  I thought you were like him.”

“You thought I was like him?  Because we were doing a job for him?”

“Because he contaminates everything he touches.”

Blaze shook his head.  “I’m not like h
im.  I won’t ever be like him.”

I leaned forward.  “Kiss me.  Now.”  I wanted his hands on me, wanted him inside me.  I needed him to erase all of this shit.  I needed him to obliterate it.

Blaze’s mouth was on mine, and I kissed him hard, my desire for him eclipsing everything else.  I pulled his shirt over his head, unbuttoned his jeans and yanked them down his hips.

“You’re wet,” he
said, surprised.

“I need you.”  It was all I could say.

He groaned, more like the growl of a wild animal, then pushed me against the wall, not even bothering to finish taking off his pants.  Just like the first time, on the car.  I wrapped my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist as he thrust into me, filling me up.  He reached inside my dress, finding my breast.

“Yes,”  I said.  It was a moan, not a word.  I melted against him as he fucked away all of the shit that had happened, not just over this past week but over my whole life.  I couldn’t think about any of it.  I could only think of him. 
Him.
  He was
it.
  I knew it, with every fiber of my being.  “Blaze,” I said, as his thrusts grew quicker, more urgent.

“Dani.”

“I -” I couldn’t get the words out.  It was like my brain was rebelling against me.  My lips refused to say it.  “I lov-” I stopped, as he paused, mid-thrust, his eyes trained on mine.

“Are you about to say what I think you are?”

A pang of fear ripped through me. 
He doesn’t feel the same way.
“I didn’t say anything.”

“Dani,” he said.  “I love you.  I’ve known it since the first time I saw you.”

Yes, he does.
  “I love you,” I said. 
For the first time.

“Wait,” he said.  “Here.”  He slid out of me, cock glistening with my wetness, and stepped out of his clothes.  He lifted my dress over my head and led
me to the bed.  “I love you.”

“I love you.”  I didn’t believe in this love shit, right?
  And we hadn't known each other long enough.  This was too crazy.

Blaze slid back inside me, back where he was before.  Back where he belonged.  My safety.  This time, we made love slowly, tenderly, for what seemed like forever, in sync, like we were part of each other.

“Blaze,” I gasped.  “I’m so close.”  He thrust into me, short bursts, bringing me further and further until I was past the point of no return, and I climaxed as he came inside me, the heat from my orgasm radiating from my belly, an explosion so strong I could barely hang on.  I bit down on his shoulder to muffle my cries.

Afterward, Blaze looked at me, my pussy still throbbing as I came down from my climax.  “I love you,” he said again.

“You know what?  You didn’t even wait until I finished saying it before,” I said. “What if I was saying something else?  Like how I loved your cock?”

“I
knew you weren’t saying that.”

“How do you know?”
I teased.  “You have no idea.”

“It’s obvious you love my cock.  It doesn’t need to be said.”  He grinned.  “N
ow, it’s obvious you love me too.”

“You’re all kinds of cocky now, aren’t you?”

“Not cocky.  It’s a fact.  It’s not arrogance if it’s true.”

“You’re going to be insufferable now, aren’t you?”

“That’s right, sweetheart,” Blaze said, kissing me.  “And I’m all yours.”

I groaned loudly, in mock protest.  “Can I take it back?”

“Nope, sorry.  No refunds, no returns.”

“Damn it.”  I was silent, hanging on to him, wanting this moment to last just a little longer.  I knew what waited for me on the other side of the door, what we had to do.  “Blaze?”

“Yeah, sweetheart.”  Somehow his use of sweetheart didn’t sound so sarcastic anymore.

“We have to talk to Benicio.”

He nodded.  “While you were in here, we were talking.  We have a plan.”

“Will she be okay, do you think?” Benicio asked, nodding in
the direction of the bedroom.  We sat in his office drinking scotch.  Right now, I could drink a bottle myself.

“She’ll be okay.  She’s a strong girl
.  She just needs some space.”

“You and her,” he said.  “Do you love her?”

“Yes.”  It came out, an automatic response. 
Do I?  It's only been a few weeks.

Benicio nodded.  “I can see that.  You look at her the same way I used to look at
her mother.  Dani is very much like her mother, I think- not just in looks.  Her mother was so strong, through everything.  So fiery.  You should have seen her in the beginning.  Guillermo took some of that from her, even before…”  His voice trailed off.

“That’s Dani,” I said.  “She’s all fire.”

“Your club-” Benicio said.

“The Inferno MC.”

“You’re involved with Guillermo now, on his payroll.  Yes?”

“We’re tied to him now,” I admitted.  “We made a deal with him to start providing security for his business.”

“What if I made you a better offer?” Benicio asked.

“Are you sticking around here?”

“I would like to stick around, provided I am able to get rid of certain problems.  I’d like to get to know my daughter.”

“I’d have to bring it to the club.”  Benicio seemed different than Guillermo, but I wasn’t about to consider another deal without some research first.  Without knowing whether we were making another deal with the devil.

“Fair enough,” he said.  “Now, let’s talk.  I have a plan.  Can you call your club, set up a meeting?”

I nodded.  “You get my bike back here and it’s done.  But get somebody that won’t fuck it up.  If that bike has the tiniest scratch,
I’ll cut the guy who's responsible for it.” 
Shit.
  I couldn't believe I was about to let someone ride ride my bike back here.  But I needed to see Dani.  I had things I needed to say.

“Are you nervous?”  I gripped Dani’s hand as we walked toward the clubhouse, and she squeezed it tightly.

“Not at all,” she said.  “I mean, there’s nothing to be worried about, right?  It’s only my first time being inside a motorcycle clubhouse and the first time meeting your family, where you’re about to discuss a plan that probably involves killing the only father I’ve ever known.  No, I’m not nervous at all.”

“It’s going to be okay,”  Blaze said.

“So you say.”

We walked in, flanked by an army of Benicio’s personal security, still dressed in suits.  They were way overdressed for this shithole.  The clubhouse was nothing more than an old warehouse we had re-converted and it didn’t look all that far removed from its original appeara
nce.  I glanced at Dani, watching her expression as she looked around.  Thank God it was not a party night.  As wild as I thought Dani had the potential to be, there was no way I’d want her first exposure to the club to be one of those nights.  I was afraid she’d turn around and walk straight out the door.

The brothers were congregating, waiting for us.  It wasn’t scheduled, but Mad Dog had called an emergency meeting of voting members of the club.  That meant thirty or so guys sitting around the house.  Not a party night, but loud and raucous, like any time ev
eryone was in a room together.

“T
his is your place,” she said.

“Yep.”

“Jesus fucking Christ, it’s about time!”  Tank clapped me on the shoulder.  “It’s been weeks.  Thought you must have gotten lost in pussy.”

Goat wolf-whistled as he walked over,
his eyes appraising Dani.  “I’d get lost in
that
pussy anytime.”

I felt heat on my cheeks, even though I knew Goat was harmless.  Behind me, Benicio cleared his throat.  That was his daughter Goat was talking about, and Benicio was armed.  But before I could say anything, Dani’s voice rang loudly a
bove the din of the clubhouse.

“Honey, I imagine you’d get lost in any girl’s pussy, what with that tiny little prick of yours,” she said as she stepped close to him and cupped his crotch.

Goat bellowed, slapping his knee amid the hoots and hollers of the guys.  “She don’t take no shit! You better watch yourself.  Protecting this one could be trouble.”

Tank motioned toward
the group.  “Everyone’s here, Veep.”

“What about Mad Dog?”

“He’s in the back.  I’ll get him.”

I turned to Dani.  “I wanted you to see the place, but you can’t be here while we meet.”  We’d already discussed it in the car, but I didn’t know if she’d take kindly to being told she couldn’t be there, especially si
nce this involved her so much.

She shrugged.  “Yeah, I know.  Show me where I’m supp
osed to wait.”

“In the back,” I said, gesturing to one of Benicio’s men to escort her. 
It was part of the rules, no women at a vote.  Even having her wait in the back was unusual, but then having Benicio here was unusual as well.  Besides, I wasn’t going to leave Dani behind, even with Benicio’s men on her.  It was too dangerous right now.  I didn’t want her out of my sight.

“Here’s the situation,” Mad Dog said.  “We voted on the job with Guillermo Arias, the protection we’ve been providing at
the warehouses the past few weeks.  Blaze has been protecting the daughter-”

A few whistles and snickers rippled through the group and I glared
in the direction of the noise.

“But he’d asked for a hit on this kid, played it off as an easy hit on a college kid who’d beat up his daughter.  College kid’s not any regular college schmuck.  He’s a Randolph.  Who are these people again?”

“Think the Kennedys.  He’s from that kind of family,” I said. “They would come down on the club, and we think that’s one reason Guillermo contracted this out to us.”

“He was supposed to have an issue with the Furia MC, who’d been doing his security work before.  We were being contracted for protection because the Furia had some dealings with the Armenians, and Guillermo thought it was too high profile
.  He thought it would bring heat down on him.  We got some confirmation of the alliance before, and it looked legit.  But we dug more, and that info fell apart.  We think this was bullshit he was feeding us.”

“Why?”  Axe leaned forward.

“If I know Guillermo,” Bernicio said, “This is probably a play at getting rid of the club.”

“But we didn’t have any dealings with him
before this,” Axe said.

“He’s paving the way to something greater,” Bernicio said.  “Guillermo is a master planner.  He’s always thinking about the end game.  He has something planned, and my guess is you’re in the way- maybe a route or something he nee
ds to control.”

I nodded.  “I think this is what’s happening.  It doesn’t make any sense that he would cut off the Furia and the Armenians because he wanted to lay low, but
then contract us to do a high-profile hit that could bring down heat on him.  I think he plans to let us take the fall for everything, or he’s using us as misdirection for something else.  Something bigger.  We’re all sitting on those warehouses, using all our resources.”

“
So you have a plan,” Axe said.

I
nodded, gesturing to Bernicio.

“This is what I would do,”  he said.  Then he laid it out for us, as clear as day.  Thirty minutes of meeting, and by the end, we were in unanimous agreement.

“We’re straight,” I said.  Dani was hunched forward in a chair in front of a television set, PlayStation controller in her hand, fingers moving.  “You entertaining yourself?”

“Ethan here showed me this game,” she said, nodding to the security guy in the corner.  “It’s pretty fun.”  Her animated figure shot something on the television, then she turned to
me.  “I needed a distraction.”

“We’re going to roll,” I said.

“You sure you’re okay with going back to Benicio’s place?  You don’t want to get back to your house or anything?”

“Yeah, it’s fine.  He’s got better security too.  We don’t want Guillermo finding out we’re back in town.”  I also didn’t want her seeing my little shithole apartment a couple of miles from the clubhouse.  She would run screaming.
  There was no doubt about it.

“Do you t
hink he is having us followed?”

“No,” I assured her.  “Benicio’s men are good.  They would know.  But just to be safe, it’s better we stay there.  The plan hinges on him
not knowing we’re back in town.”