Always

Off to the Races

Off to the Races

Rowan

My head is so full of everything that’s happened and it aches. Everything going on right now is wrong. I’m numb. Danny looks shell-shocked as he stares down the street after his wayward brother. I can’t believe Dallas did this. I glance over at Cora and my heart breaks. She’s been reduced to silent screams. Her body shakes and I can tell she’s only kept upright by Houdini. The nomads’ normally stoic face is etched with concern. I don’t like it. The look in his brilliant blue eyes makes my belly ache. I knew there was something up with him, always hanging around her, and offering to help. I sneer. How the f**k did we end up like this? I long for the days of simplicity. Right down the line, it has always been the four of us. Danny and I never should’ve left town. My mind takes me back to the beginning of the end.

Past

Dan Wesson and I have pretty much always been two peas in a pod. We liked the same things, had similar quirks and when we were old enough, developed a mutual crush. Despite the craziness around us while growing up in the Wesson Rebel MC, our love came natural and easy.

Danny, better known by his road name Samson and I were anchors in an ever-shifting sea of insanity. With his broad shoulders, six foot four frame and light brown hair that dusted his shoulders, he was a warrior with the heart of a poet and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

For me, his hazel eyes are always warm and full of love, but they can turn cold and make his expressive face a thing to fear. With a strong jaw line and rugged features to go with his size, he’s damn intimidating when he wants to be.

It’s our big going away party at the club and though I won’t admit it out loud, I’m worried as f**k about my girl. Cora Curtis has been my best friend for as long as I can remember. We’ve done everything together and I do mean everything. Leaving her behind for the next two years is going to be difficult, especially with her on again off again relationship with Dallas. I peer up at my boyfriend and wonder how two people from the same gene pool could be so drastically different. I wish she could’ve fallen for someone easier, softer, like Joker or Cowboy, but it’s always been Dallas. From the minute she was born, that boy took one look into her eyes and they bonded. Some would say the same about Dan and me. In a place full of round pegs, we were a little square.

“You’re going to miss our girl, Irish,” Dan says, pulling me close to his side.

“Yeah, no surprise there.” We shared everything. Might be the only way it would work with people like us, our boyfriends being brothers and us being raised in the life and no one batted an eye at the swapping we liked to do.

“She’s going to be fine, Dallas will take care of her and she’s got the rest of the club watching her back.”

“You know he can be such an asshole to her and so clueless. He breaks her heart on a monthly basis.” I sigh.

“Well, we are just two hours away. Not a problem to come kick his ass and get him straightened out,” he threatens.

I throw my head back and laugh. “Baby, you always did have a way with words.”

“I’m looking forward to having my own space with you.” We’re going back to get our Bachelors, so we’ve escaped the rules and regulations that keep freshman on campus.

“Me too, honey,” I say, sighing in bliss. Thoughts of snuggling in our bed and decorating our apartment fill my head.

“Speak of the devil,” Dan says, nodding toward Cora.

 She comes down the hallway headed straight for us. I open my arms, and she walks into my embrace. “Hey,” I say.

“Hey,” she whispers.

I can feel her sadness. She’s getting hit twice as hard with Dan leaving too. He’s the soft, sweet and the quiet she needs after coping with Dallas ’ loud, aggressive and very possessive, energy twenty-four seven.

Dan steps behind her and rubs her back.

I run my fingers through her thick hair.

“We’re not gone yet,” Dan says.

“I know, just getting in all my snuggles while I can.” Cora moves away and smiles.

“Girls, I repeat…two hours away,” Dan reminds us.

“I’m going to miss you too Danny,” Cora replies.

He melts. Cora’s got this softness to her that keeps us all from getting too hard. We’re a machine in a way, each of us playing an important part. This separation will be a test.

“I hate leaving you. Why don’t you come with us?” I ask.

She glances across the bar at Dallas who’s speaking with the Pres, his father, Rule. “No, my place is here with Dallas and our son. This time is for you two. Besides, I have my Bachelors. What would I even do up there?” She shrugs. “I’m twenty-five. I can handle being alone.”

We all know she’s been groomed to step up and be the mother hen in this place.  “I know. Come on, we’re supposed to be celebrating, let’s get bombed and have memorable sex.” I wag my eyebrows comically and she giggles.

“So, a normal Saturday?” Dan asks.

“Smart ass Dan is out to play,” Cora teases.

“You know another version?” Dan says.

“I know, but you love me, don’t you lover? I should get some perk for letting you sample this quality p***y,” Cora says.

“Jesus, Rowan, stop teaching her this s**t,” Dan mumbles.

His outraged expression makes me laugh. “What, you don’t like what we teach each other?” I say, leaning in to run my tongue over Cora’s lips. She moans, and we both glance to Dan, whose eyes are glazing over with lust.

“I’m pretty sure he likes it, Rowan,” Cora whispers a hair’s breath away from my lips.

“f**k, come on let’s go make our rounds before I take you to the bedroom and f**k you both until you can’t move, “ Danny says.

“Promises, Promises,” I huff as Cora giggles.

He wraps us in his arms, pulling us to rest beneath his shoulder as he leads us across the room. We practically have Dan and Dallas tattooed across our foreheads. Still, they never fail to take the opportunity to show ownership. Not that we mind. In a world where p***y is interchangeable, it’s nice to be claimed so thoroughly. We stop just shy of Dallas.

The tense set of his shoulders and the tightness around his eyes speak volumes about his stress level. He’s feeling this exit too.

I reach over, and he lets me twine our fingers.

“You guys staying at the club tonight?” Rule asks.

“Yeah, I figure we’ll be too wasted to do much else,” I say grinning.

Rule chuckles. “I figured as much. “Sure as hell going to miss you two, but we’re looking forward to having people we can trust working the books and doing the paper work for the businesses. We’ll see you at the BBQ tomorrow?”

“Of course,” Danny says.

“Good, I’m going to do some celebrating of my own.” Rule walks off, disappearing among the bodies all packed into the mid-sized space.

“Are we really going to stand here and shoot the s**t?” Dallas asks.

“Wow, eager to get down to business?” I ask.

“Yes, when I’m stressed I like to f**k, and you two leaving is a f**k load of stress.” It was the closest he’d come to telling us he would miss us.

After so many years, I’d grown fluent in Dallas speak.

Cora flinches and Danny pulls her close, placing a sweet kiss on her cheeks. In so many ways, he’s been our protector from the harshness surrounding us. He’s managed to avoid taking it all into himself while Dallas bleeds it.

Suddenly, Cora looks a lot more delicate than her 5’11, sinfully curvy frame.

I watch her and wonder again, if we should leave her.

As if sensing my thoughts, she straightens and smiles. “One quick sweep and we’ll disappear, okay?” Cora says to Dallas.

“Okay, Co.” Dallas runs his fingers down her face.

The easy give reassures me. She always had a soothing affect on him no one else could quite manage. As much as we share, there’s a part of Dallas that only belongs to her. Just as the very core of Dan’s heart is mine. It keeps us confident and unworried about our status. There’s no reason to hash things out, or have in-depth conversations, we simply are and it works. In this life, you come to take things as they come and hold onto the good with a tight grip. We aren’t no half ass crew, we’re hundred one percenters through and through. Our roots runback to the days after the Vietnam war.

Cora cups the side of my face and places her lips against my ear. “Don’t worry babe, I’m a Curtis. I’m solid. Let’s enjoy the time we have.”

“Am I so obvious?” I whisper.

“To me, you’ve always been crystal clear, Irish.”

I close my eyes and enjoy her closeness, inhaling the sweet scent that always clings to her skin. After a moment, we separate and the sweep around the room begins.

Before I know it, we’re in the room and we all know it’s our final goodbye.

“I’m going to come in your girl Rowan, brother,” Dallas says.

“Good because I’m going to come in yours,” Dan replies.

His threat makes my p***y drip. I love it when he lays claim to Cora and lets me play in the aftermath.

“Marking your territory my loves?” Cora whispers.

“Damn straight, you both belong to us,” Dallas growls.

“Four hearts joined like we promised baby,” Dan whispers, holding my back to his front as we face the couple mirroring our position.

“Kiss her baby, get us hard for you,” Dallas whispers, kissing Cora’s neck as Danny does the same.

I loved playing the copy game. Them standing behind us, while the four of us stand in front of the mirror. We lean forward. Her full lips brush my own and I shiver when Cora opens her mouth, letting me take the lead, the way I like. I suck her tongue. Heat blossoms in my belly, and spreads throughout my body. A pool of liquid gathers in my underwear.

“My girls are so pretty,” Danny says, running his fingers down my bare arm in a light caress that drives me insane. The kiss deepens and I tilt my head wanting more of her sweetness. Dan grinds his hard on into my ass and I can’t help but whimper.

“You like that baby? Look how hard my beautiful lovers get me.” Dan cups my breasts.

I arch my back and Cora pulls away.

“Oh God, I’m going to miss these.” Cora sucks my hard n****e into her mouth through the thin material of my tank top.

“Oh s**t,” I gasp, staring down at her dark head, not about to lose a minute.

Dan continues to hold my tit up for her as he tortures my other, rolling and pinching. Cora moans around me. Dallas has her skirt shoved around her waist and his fingers are moving inside her. I can hear how wet she is and smell her mouth watering arousal.

“This is all about our girls right now,” Dallas says. “Are you going to come for us?” He knows I get off watching. When he’s sending her over the edge like this, it doesn’t take much to make me follow.

“Say it, or I’ll stop.” Dallas’ voice is sharp and edgy.

“f**k, yes,” I rasp.

“Mm hmm,” Cora mumbles around my tit. She sucks the rest into her mouth and moves her hand down to caress the soaked seam of my panties. She slips her long, slender, fingers inside the material and eases into my greedy p***y.

I will never get enough of her. We move together in a familiar rhythm and within minutes, I’m flying with her calling out, close behind.

Lying on my back a spell later with my mouth fused to Cora’s and my eyes rolling in the back of my head, I feel my p***y clamp down on Dallas’ condom encased d**k. He’s got a rougher touch than Danny. We take our aggression out on one another and connect on a feral level. In need of air, Cora and I break. I focus on Dallas’ glinting green eyes, full of lust and acceptance. Then I glance over at my best friend. The sight of Danny’s rubber covered c**k disappearing into her glistening, cleanly shaven, brown p***y is still so beautiful it steals my breath away. On overload, I work my hips in time with Dallas’ while craving the high we build together.

“Oh, Oh, I’m going to come,” Cora cries.

“Yes, do it baby, milk me.” Danny growls.

“s**t, s**t, s**t,” Dallas swears.

I moan, unable to form coherent sentences with the pleasure surrounding me like an invisible cocoon. My p***y pulses and Dallas grunts.

“Oh s**t, yes.” Dallas continues to pound into me.

Cora lets out a keening wail.

I throw my head back in a silent scream, as we both take to the skies. Dallas cries out, and I feel Danny go stock still. He presses Cora into the bed as he spends himself inside what, next to me has become his second home.

The night goes by too fast the way that things always tend to when you want them to stretch out, and before I know it, we’re actually leaving.

I fold my last t-shirt and slip it into a suitcase, closing it with a final click. My heart lurches. I’d never been so far away from home without the rest of Wesson with me. Without Cora. My shoulders are tense. It’s just a two-year program, but it feels like forever.

“That’s the last of it?” Cora asks, placing her hand on top of mine.

“Yeah,” I swallow nervously. For the first time in our relationship, things were upside down. Scared and uncertain, I glance at her for reassurance. Two years her senior, I’m supposed to the guide.

“Oh, you’re going to do awesome.” She stands and wraps her arms around me, placing her head on my shoulders. “I always knew you were going to get out and see a bit of the world. Have fun, drink too much, travel and forget about Wesson and all the s**t that goes with it,” Cora whispers.

“Cora—”

“I didn’t say forget us honey. I said enjoy the break. It’s a rare, once in a lifetime opportunity. Once you comeback, you’ll be locked in like me.”

“You love it here.”  

“I do, but I’m going to miss you something fierce.” Cora placed a hand on my cheek, gently turning my face to hers. Her soft, full, dusky pink lips brush mine.

With the touch of her lips, I’m taken back to the first time we played on our own without the boys. Danny and I never shared ourselves with anyone, but somehow with Baby Girl and Dallas it always felt right, like we were a complete unit.

Two years Earlier,

Having the boys gone was nothing new, but this mission felt different. A month long stint while they showed their faces at the sister charters. Normally, we’d ride along with them, but Cora had gone and got herself knocked up. The baby made her temperature run hot, which is why she walks around the club in nothing more than a pair of tiny cut off shorts that barely cover her ass and thin tank tops. Watching the prospects avert their eyes when she walks by is an entertaining game I never tire of.

She flops down on the bed beside me and huffs. She stretches her arms above her head and bares miles of supple brown skin. Pregnancy glow is no myth. She’s f*****g beautiful right now.

“What’s wrong Baby Girl? You got a craving? Need me to get you something?” I run my fingers through her hair. I wish I could provide comfort. She misses the boys as much as I do, maybe more, given her heavy dose of estrogen.

“You know what I’m supposed to be doing right now, Ro? Having wicked hot hormone induced s*x. The first three months make your libido kick into high gear. I’m wet from the time I wake up, till the time I go to sleep. My fingers aren’t doing the job, and Dall would blow a gasket if I ever thought about using a toy. Even my n*****s ache.” Her hands creep up and cup her swollen mounds.

My mouth waters. “You aching baby?” I sit up and run my fingers down her arms.

“Mm-hmm.” She whimpers. Her eyelids flutter up.

 I find myself lost in her brown lasers. “Maybe I can help you with that.” My heart pounds faster in my chest. Dallas and Danny’s words circled in my head. Whatever she needs, get it for her, no expenses spared.

“Rowan?” she whispers.

“I want to try something different Baby Girl. We don’t always need the boys with us to play, do we?” I push her thick sable hair away from her oval face and bend down, brushing my lips against hers.

She gasps, rubbing her legs together as her full lips part.

“The boys told me to take good care of you and that’s what I’m going to do.”

“Ro.” She gathers my red hair in her fist.

Wetness spreads over my panties. She’s not the only one who’s been doing without. “Mmmh, let me have a little taste,” I say.

Cora sits up. Gentle brushes of lips become more, fast. She slips her tongue in my mouth, and I moan, returning the favor. She’s so sweet and soft, where Danny is hard. It’s one of the things I love the most about our play time, the contrast. Our chests press together. Her hard n*****s graze mine. I rub my thighs together, more turned on than I could remember being in a long time.

“f**k, Irish, you’re so sexy.”

Her words make me whimper. Who’s seducing who here?

“Are you ready for me to touch you baby?”

“God, yes,” I say. She runs her tongue across my lips, rolling my pert n*****s through the material of my shirt. My breath catches in my throat.

“You like that?” She rasps.

“Yes, Cora, God.” I watch her.

Her eyes are half-lidded and she has her bottom lip caught between even white teeth. I skim my fingers up her along body and cup her breasts, giving her the same treatment. She whimpers and together, we climb exchanging sweet kisses and heated looks without our men looking on and lending their encouragement.

“Are you wet Ro?”

“s**t yes, baby,” I whisper against her lips. “Lie down and let me give it to you. This is about your needs first. You’re the one growing life.” I run my fingers over her belly and smile. “My Baby Girl, all grown up and becoming a mother.” I unbutton her shorts and pull down the zipper, peeling them down. “Commando?” I lift a brow.

“Kept soaking through underwear,” Cora mumbles.

“Don’t you worry, baby, we’re going to take care of that. Lift your hips up for me.” She did as I asked and I work the denim down her hips and long legs. I kept our gazes latched as I trail a finger down her slit. “God, you are wet and hot.” Gathering her moisture I rub her c**t, delighted when she bucks off the bed and grips the covers. “You need it bad don’t you?” I ease two fingers inside her, savoring the feel of her heated flesh closing around me. She flexes her walls, and I moan. “You feel so good baby. Are you going to come apart for me?”

“Yes.” She rocks her hips up.

I angle my fingers, brushing against her g-spot. It’s different with another woman. I know the things that will please her and I like the feel of her soft, silken flesh. I like watching her come to life. I’ve always taken care of her. This is just another extension. One, I love more than I ever could’ve imagined. I often heard people say love and passion wasn’t about the package, but the person inside it. I understand that now completely. She shakes beneath me and I stay with her. “That’s it beautiful, let go for me, come over my fingers.”

“Ro-Rowan,” she cries out.

The sound of my name on her lips as she finds release fills my heart with happiness.

The Present

“Hey, where did you go?” Cora asks, waving her hand over my eyes.

“Just thinking about the first time we played solo.” I smile at the bittersweet memories.

“Good memory.”

 I rest my forehead against hers and soak up the calming vibrations she sends out without trying.

“Get the lead out ladies! We need to hit the road,” Dallas yells.

“Always a charmer, isn’t he?” I joke.

Cora laughs. “Charmer, my ass. Come on.”

We leave the room that’s been Dan’s and mine since we moved in six months ago. Once she turned up pregnant, Dallas bought them a home of their own.

“Come on, let’s get this over with,” I prompted.

“Your Dad is going to tear up, the old softie,” Cora says.

I smile. I’m lucky to have a dad who can compartmentalize his s**t. The years spent in the MC haven’t tainted him like others.

We said our formal goodbyes at the BBQ earlier. This one was just for our families. Rule and my Dad, Sergeant in arms, Randall ‘Brain’ Singer would dole out last minute advice hugs and in Danny’s case, threats. My gaze lingers on the warm beige walls covered with pictures from the past and representation of Wesson Rebels.

We exit the hall, and I smile at my father.

Graying in his beard and his hair, the dark brown has become salt and pepper. Pushing fifty, he’s getting up in age, but there isn’t a damn thing wrong with his mind. Known as the man with the plan, he’s gotten this club out of more s**t than even I can imagine. He holds out his arms to me.

 I go into like a pigeon to a homing beacon. There is no safer place on this planet than in my daddy’s arms.

“Always knew you’d be on to bigger and better Rowan my girl.”

“Daddy it’s two years of college. Then, I’ll be back.”

“Maybe you’ll get a taste for the normal life. You and Danny were always a bit different.”

I pull back. “You don’t want me to come back?” My heart aches. Doesn't Dad want me with him?

“I do. I just want you to spend some time thinking. There are lots of things out there for you if you've got a mind to have it, and this life has a way of aging a body fast. Hell, if I woke up and nothing hurt, I’d think I was dead.”

I laugh. “Dad, you’re timeless.”

“Hmph, still trying to earn brownie points. You’re my heart, girl.”

“I love you too Daddy,” I whisper, stepping back. If I don’t stop this now, I’ll be a bawling mess and neither of us wants or need that.

“You,” Daddy points at Danny. “Out on the patio.”

And it begins.

“Come and give me some time, little girl,” Rule booms in the sexy voice that makes me quiver inside. Pushing mid-forties and graying at the temples and in the short beard he often wore, the man doesn’t lack for s*x appeal. Dark brown eyes sit in a strong face with a dimpled chin. It’s easy to see how Dallas and Danny came out so pretty.

I walk over to him and inhale the scent of leather and male that accompanies his embrace.

“You’re going to be fine. You two look out after each other, keep my son from slaughtering those college boys with wandering eyes and enjoy yourself. You always were into books and shit.”

I snicker. Since I became Danny’s old lady, he’s treated me like a daughter. “I’ll do my best, but you know, they call him Samson for a reason.”

“Yeah, I got the bail money ready. If you need anything you call, understood?”

“Yes P, I savvy.”

Rule rolls his eyes. “Smart ass girl, go see if Brain is done reading my boy the riot act, so we can get you on the road.”

With my past firmly behind me, I step away from Rule to get my old man and start on our journey toward the future.

Present

Now, the very thought of that day adds to the rocky ocean in my stomach threatening to eject my last meal. It’s amazing how that memory which once excited and filled me with hope, is now the start of a fall from a great distance. I glance at Danny, unsure for the first time in my life how to help him.

Some s**t you just have to live through one day at a time. Do your best to keep your heart from shattering and your mind from snapping under the pressure…like Dallas. I glance at Cora and back to Danny, feeling torn. Who needs me more? Cora is taken care of by a man I don’t know or trust and Danny is haunted. I remain rooted to the spot, help to no one. This crash is just a part of our lives. s**t happens that would shake a person right out of their sanity, but we have to move on.

So, I put on my big girl panties, took a deep breath, and went to Cora. “I got her,” I say, glaring at Houdini to let him know I see right through his facade. Helpful and harmless my ass.

“Maybe she doesn’t want to go.” His soft voice might as well have been a scream.

 I go ramrod straight and all but yank Cora away from him. “She needs to be with family right now, Nomad. Come on Baby Girl.” I wrap my arms around her shoulders and lead her over to Danny. The best thing to do right now is hold tight to one another. “Danny?” I say gently.

He looks down at me and the emptiness in his hazel eyes frightens me.

“We should go inside and get out of the heat.”

He nods dumbly and glances over at Cora. His face softens and he snaps back into action. It was second nature by now, fixing what Dallas has broken.

Now though, I’m wondering if it’ll be enough. When you stretch a rubber band beyond its elastic threshold, no amount of glue will repair it. What do we do then?