Rust: A Bad Boy Romance (Courage MC) (16 page)

“
O
h Rust
!” she cried out, jumping into my arms. Her warmth radiated throughout my body. Her perfume shot up through my nose, hitting every pleasure center in my brain. I grabbed onto her waist, her tits, and her ass – every god damn single feature I loved about her. If I could latch onto her personality and, better yet, her soul, I would have.

I was so fucking grateful for her. Even though I had been shot twice and I was losing blood by the second, I somehow turned away from the pain. It didn’t mean anything to me. The only thing that mattered was her.

Bruce and Johnny sat on the sidelines, beating those Darkhorse boys to a bloody pulp. They wouldn’t die, but they would learn a lesson or two. You don’t mess with the good guys. ‘Cause if you do, it’ll come to bite you in the ass. Johnny looked up at us mid punch and smiled. He approved.
Oh, Johnny. You’re a wild son of a bitch.
I was grateful for him too. Him and Bruce, in fact.

But as I set Jackie down onto her feet again, I realized somethin’ kinda heavy. This was the end of my run with Courage. I knew it was. Because if it wasn’t, I could lose my life with Jackie. Shit, I couldn’t look back. I had to move forward. And that was okay with me. I knew it was okay with her too. Hell’s Wheels would be a monument to a time period. They would be remembered with respect and Lane, her father, would be honored and showered with the glory of our memories of his just ruling. It was all pretty fuckin’ poetic and shit.

I turned around to the boys and hollered, “Alright, guys! Time to pack it in. Let’s clean up this mess and grab a drink or ten.”

One of the boys, a man named Jorge, yelled out. “Or one hundred!” The men all yelled their approval. God damn was I gonna miss them.

I turned to Jackie and kissed her, pulling back on her luscious lips, while running my hand across her smooth stomach. “This is it for us, right? We’re done being criminals?” I asked her.

“Oh, God. I was hoping you’d say that. This was too much action for me. Too much death. All I want is to be with you.” She smiled and kissed me back.

“I want more than that. I want a family. I want every single experience with you.” I admitted.

“You sure? You sure you don’t want to go out catching women at your club every night with Johnny like you used to?” She playfully punched at me.

“Hell no. You’re the one. You’re everything I need. Those days are over.”

She laughed and nodded her head. “I know. We better remodel that club though. You can’t give that up. You can’t give up all your friendships. Even if it is just us that belong to each other, we can’t give it all up. Just the bad stuff. The bad stuff is all that has to go.” she said. God, she was an angel put on this earth to make me a better man. That much was obvious.

“You’re perfect.” I said, picking her up. I walked her over to the bike and sat her down on the cool leather seat. “Hey Bruce! You got a ride?”

Bruce looked up at me with a cigarette hangin’ out of his mouth. He was wiping the blood from his hands. “Shit, don’t mind me. You know I’ll find a way back. Go have your fun.”

I saluted him. He was a good leader, even if he was getting’ too old for this shit. Hell, we all were in some ways, right? “You better take me to a doctor. I’m gonna need some help getting these bullet shards out of my body.” I laughed.

Jackie looked shocked. “Oh my God! I’m so sorry.” She had been so caught up in all of this drama that she had forgot that I had even got shot. She started the bike and I held onto her this time. Yep, she was my woman. For life. And I couldn’t be any happier.

“Bullets ain’t mean shit to me. All that matters is you.” I said.

We drove off into the night sky, whipping through time. Courage would be a thing of the past for me. But there had to be one last celebration. A big send off for me and Jackie. Though I didn’t know it, this was the real start of the story, the real start to my life.

“
L
ook
, I’ll stitch him up, but you guys have got to get a grip on things
.
I get it. You’re in a war. But I can’t keep stitchin’ up your men every day. I have a business to run.” The vet stood in front of us, arms crossed. He bore a display of disgust at us, as if we were the vilest creatures in the world.

I sat down and crossed my legs, smiling smugly. “The war’s over Jack. You don’t have to worry anymore. Darkhorse is gone. Gone forever.”

He threaded the needle and disinfected the metal. “Gone forever? I don’t believe it.” he laughed.

“Well believe it, Jack. We wiped them all out. I ain’t gonna go into any details or nothing, but they’re a thing of the past. That’s a definite.” Rust said, getting ready for his stitches.

The doctor leaned over him and whispered, “This is gonna sting a bit.” The needle went in quick and fast, with a pop, and Rust closed his eyes tight.

“Fuck! Son of a bitch!” he moaned.

“Don’t be a pussy, darling. It’s all over now.” I blew a kiss at him.

“Look guys, I’m happy for you and all, but you really think it’s over? Even if you destroy Darkhorse, there will be more like them coming later. Just you wait.” Jack said.

“Well, when you’re right, you’re right. But it don’t matter anymore for us. We’re getting out of the game. Moving up into the valley. We’ll be close, but I ain’t gonna be a criminal anymore. No time for that shit. I want kids. A real life. I’m done and so is Jackie.” Rust sighed as the doc stitched him up.

“Is that so? I was kinda hoping The Hell’s Wheels wouldn’t be over for good.” he said.

I took in a deep breath and said, “Yeah, well, it died when my father passed. It didn’t need to continue any longer. Besides, what is life without love? I don’t want to keep running from the law and neither does Rust. I’d like to live a long life.”

“What will you do though? I mean for work. You don’t have too many options.”

“What is this, 20/20? We have all the options in the world. When you’ve lived the life we’ve lived, you start to realized anything is possible.” I said.

Rust chimed in, “I was thinkin’ we could start a farm and live off the land. We could sell livestock and organic vegetables. Hell, it’s the same thing as drugs, right? There’s a demand for this shit. So let’s sell it.”

My eyes lit up. “You mean it?” I cried out, feeling my heart beat against my chest. It was an incredible idea, one that made too much sense.

“Hell yeah I mean it. I want time with you. I know it’s hard work, but we can do it together. I can’t think of a better way to spend my life with you.”

“Last stitch.” The doctor moaned, threading the needle through his tight skin once more.

“God damn!” Rust winced.

“Alright, I’m done. Well, guys. It sounds like you know what you want. I salute you for taking a stand on this. It’s an honorable thing. I wish you the best. Now get out of here before the cops see you here.” he said, ripping off his gloves.

“Bye. Hope to God I never see you again.” I winked.

Rust grabbed his shirt and vest and together we walked out the front door. “Shall we?” he asked.

There was one last get together with Bruce and the boys. It wasn’t a party or nothing, but it
was
a farewell meeting. You see, Bruce didn’t grant too many of those to too many people. It was a lucky thing to get. But I think deep down Bruce wanted what we had. A real life. Love. Happiness. The things normal people expect out of life.

However, he couldn’t have those things. He was the boss of one of the toughest One-Percenter Motorcycle Clubs in the world. Sure, he could have a wife. He could have kids too. But what good would that be. He wouldn’t be able to enjoy any of it. Besides, I think he also just liked to see his men happy. Despite him being tough as nails, he was getting old. He knew what it was like to be young.

So when we got to the bar, we grabbed a glass and raised it high up in the air. Bruce, eager to get his drink on, proposed a toast. “To the loveliest bastards I’ve ever gotten to know. May you keep the happiness you’ve come to find!” Cheers all around the bar. “Wait, wait. I ain’t done yet. Look, you almost ruined everything. But somehow you didn’t. Somehow, you managed to take away the most brutal bunch of assholes I have ever come across. Now they’re gone. Now there is peace. To that, I have to salute you.”

“We couldn’t have done it without you, Bruce.” I said, swigging down my drink as some tunes came on the jukebox.

“Now don’t you start lyin’ to me. Of course you could have done it without me. If anything I probably held you back! But god damn, if I didn’t have some fun takin’ down those fucks.”

“Cheers to that, brother.” Rust said, chugging the rest of his beer. “So, what’s next for Courage?”

“Shit, I don’t know. I’m getting too old for this shit, but I got word that my son Adam is comin’ back for a while. Thank God for that, right? He was some wild plans. Maybe we’ll see them through.”

“Wild plans?” Rust asked further.

“Some bank job. I dunno, quit askin’ me about this shit. You’ll make me think you want back in or somethin’. You’re a free man now. Enjoy it while it lasts.”

Rust turned to me and kissed my forehead. “You’re right. I’m a free man. Free as I’ll ever be. I got a woman, my friends, and a new life ahead of me. This is the best day of my god damn life.”

I thought back to the day I met him, the day Johnny came up to me. So much had changed since then. Whole life had twisted into something unimaginable. It was beautiful to think about.

All this time was spent running in a direction opposite of ourselves. Darkhorse had uprooted all of us, placing us in a spot to choose for the better of all our men. And somehow, by some stroke of luck, we had chosen the right path. There wasn’t anything left to do, other than live our new life. Now that we had each other, we had everything we could have ever asked for.

“Rust?” I asked him.

“What is it, baby?” He looked at me with love. There was something important that I needed to ask him.

“Can we leave and go back to your place? I need you to fuck me all night. Let’s make a baby.” I said, smiling.

“Say no more.” He picked me up and carried me outside the building.

Let me tell you, I could barely walk after that night.

“
H
oney
, can you come out here and grab the tomatoes for me? They’re finally ready.” Rust said, outside the front door.

I walked outside into the warm light and looked at my man. He was tending the fields, collecting his harvest. I couldn’t believe that this was my life now. Inside I could hear our baby playing with her toys in her crib.

“Look at you, looking all sexy.” I said, smiling. “Here, let me help you.” I walked out and looked proudly at our farm. He had worked so hard for this moment. Our first harvest. I really couldn’t believe it! I sat down in the soil with him and pulled off all the ripe tomatoes I could find. “I’m really proud of you, baby. You did it. You really did.”

“Not without your help though. Shit, we’re gonna make a killing off this yield.”

I could still vividly remember when we first got married. Pulling up in the drive-thru on his motorcycle, feelin’ so embarassed by the whole thing. Now it was a fond memory. I guess we had technically been married for a while now, but it finally felt like a real thing.

We eventually had a real wedding. You know, one where everyone could come and celebrate. It was truly incredible. There was Bruce and his son Adam, Johnny, Avery, and all of Courage. As soon as we said the words “I do”, the bottles of champagne, whisky, and whatever other substances they kept in their pockets came out. Everyone brought their bikes and it turned into a real debauchery of a night.

We’re still a little hard around the edges, but time has a way of changing you for the better. Lucky for us, there’s a new member of the family: Emma. She’s my pride and joy. Though she’s just a baby, I just know she’s going to grow up to run the world. She won’t know the hard life we led because I won’t let her fall to our lows. Maybe she’ll be a doctor or a scientist-someone who can help fix this world. Who knows what’ll happen? The possibilities really are endless. The fact that we’ve ended up here proves that much.

Rust is just about the sweetest father to her ever. He’s got the scars of a soldier and the tales to back them up, but his mind is set on the future. He’s constantly talking about her to friends and, when he’s not with me or, he’s above her crib or holding her in the garden outside.

And the farm? Well we’re set to make a fortune off it. It took a while to get sorted out, but once we did, it was just like old times. Only now we deal with families and kind-hearted people.

Every time I look at Rust, my heart aches. All the pain and sorrow we once felt, what was it all for? And why did we continue to want to feel those things. It’s like when you’re a child and you cry to your momma, even though everything is okay. You cry because you know something will happen. It’s not that it actually hurts. But deep down you know that if you stop, she’ll stop feeding your ego.

But what if we stop? Does the story end? Or does it keep going? Maybe next time it’ll have more sunshine. Do the adventures hit too hard? Or do they just frighten you less? Why is that such a bad thing to us? Why do we keep going with the bullets, the darkness, and the hate? What is it for?

Well we stopped all of that. That was it. And our adventure is unfolding, just like the nature around us. I can tell you one thing for certain: the story doesn’t end just because you let the pain go.

The story just gets better and better. It has a
bright
color to it. It lifts you up. And when you look your baby in the eyes and she smiles, it is like a stroke of heaven.

B
urnt
: A Bad Boy Romance (Courage MC)

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