Silverbow (6 page)

“Don’t hate me because I’m a real man,” he jabbed as he made a stab at Greyden. His arms seemed to struggle for a moment in an attempt to not react to the current between us. I felt anger hit my cheeks and shook my head. He didn’t even know Greyden and sadly I knew exactly who he was talking about. Greyden was a man! He just had a few weaknesses that made him easy to walk on; not a good thing when dating me. Speaking of weaknesses…the electricity between us nearly took my knees out from under me. I pushed myself back and the door frame bit into my lower back.

“Shut up and I’ll see you on Monday,” I said through gritted teeth and he laughed out loud as his hands slid away from me and he swung open the screen door. His laugh was more like a howl and it resonated through my essence. I stomped out of the doorway and slammed the door behind him. I watched him saunter down the front steps and turn to watch me through the windows like a predator circling his prey. Once his back was to me I leaned my back against the door and exhaled loudly. I was confused, curious, angry and extremely turned on.

I listened with my eyes closed; his Chevelle slowly pulled out and drove off. I eventually made my way out to the shop to clean up and lock up. He had already left the place spotless. As I pulled the last door down and locked it, I heard someone pull into the drive way. I turned to see Greyden on his Harley and a slight tinge of guilt sunk into my gut. I hadn’t done anything wrong...yet.

CHAPTER 5

His fingers curled into a fist at the nape of my neck. He pulled hard on my hair sending my lashes crushing to my cheeks and my lips parting as I gasped. The air was hot, sticky and sweet on my tongue. I felt his mouth hungry on my neck. His tongue traced the pulse in my neck accompanied by grazing teeth and strong lips. I could feel my bare chest against his hot flesh. My back arched as I rolled into him; straddling his lap. With my arms around him I buried my nails into the flesh of his back and listened to the deep purr that rattled within him as his static pulse enveloped me.

A firm hand slid between us and down to the top button of the jeans I still had on. His strong hand found its way past the zipper, down the front of my panties and molested me in tender circles. He knew what he was doing. I felt my body shiver against his and the hunger of my body grew more intense.  I wanted him inside me. His mouth found my left breast and he began biting and suckling at my nipple. I rocked against his touch and moaned against his lobe.

My hands left his back and searched low for his jeans only to be pushed aside. He stopped caressing me and slid me off his lap. My body wanted to scream in protest but was silenced when he pulled my jeans down and away from me. Before I had time to move on my own I was pulled back over his lap and down against his naked body. I could feel his hunger between my thighs as his erection pushed firmly against me.

His lips eagerly found mine and we kissed feverishly. My lips seemed to vibrate against his as our electric touch buzzed. My fingers tangled in his hair as his hands slid to my hips and around to my ass. He lifted me gently and then pulled me down with force onto his hunger. My back arched as he sunk into me and sent my passion ablaze. I literally felt the heat begin to burn. His hands eagerly rocked me over his excitement as my mouth gave in to his. I could feel him deep inside of me and though it was nearly painful, I wanted more.

With my eyes still closed I let my head fall back as he kissed my neck and nipped at my breasts. I came down hard against him and felt his heat crawl over my skin. It flared intensely once again and a growl rattled in his chest, a growl of passion. I felt my legs begin to tighten up as my climax grew close and he moaned against my neck as his did too. His pull on my hips gained forced and the pain within pulled me closer to the edge. The heat between us was almost smothering now. I was panting hard and felt like I couldn’t breathe because the air had grown so thick with an electrical charge. He forced me over him and sunk his teeth into the flesh of my shoulder as I began to cum. The tightening and pulse of my sex shoved him over the edge with a violent thrust and his head flew back as his lips parted and he howled into the darkness. I felt myself wanting to scream his name…

My eyes flashed open and my body quaked against his. The room was not pitch black. Moonlight poured through the kitchen window and over bare flesh. The heat was gone and the air was startlingly cool. His lips kissed my shoulder as I laid my head on his and stared off into the next room. I shivered and his arms wrapped around me. We sat in a single kitchen chair in the middle of the room in silence, catching our breath and recovering. I tried to pull my mind from fantasy and back into reality. I finally untangled myself from Greyden and sauntered down the hall to a small bathroom.

I closed the door behind me and waited in the darkness. After I heard him lumber up the stairs; I flipped on the light and looked at my reflection. My blonde hair fell limp against my damp shoulders and stuck to my temples. I pushed my hair aside to take a look at my shoulder where he had bit me and found…nothing. I narrowed my brow and ran my fingers over my flesh. Had I imagined it? Much like I had imagined I was in the arms of another man? I exhaled and turned on the water. I rinsed my face and yanked my hair up in a sloppy ponytail before heading upstairs. Greyden was already in the shower. I waited instead of joining him.

I walked down the hall and opened the door to my old room. The walls were still painted dark purple and black sheets still blanketed my bed. A little dark for a young girl but I loved these colors. My bare feet took me across the room to the single window on the far wall. From here I could get a full view of the shop and the endless sandy lot beyond it. I leaned against the window frame with my hip and watched my breath cloud the glass and fade away. Something caught my eye. Headlights flashed nearly half a mile away. I watched the specks of light until it appeared the car had turned and drove away. I pulled away from the window, naked and slid back into the shadows. There was no way that anyone could have seen me from that distance. But something inside me told me that they were letting me know they were there. I was sure I knew who it was and the sudden pain in my shoulder that I had sworn had been bitten told me I was right.

I drew in my bottom lip and closed my old bedroom door behind me as I stepped back into the hall. The shower had stopped and Greyden stood in the doorway drying his hair. He flashed a smiled and vanished into our bedroom.

“What got into you tonight,” he asked loud enough for me to hear. I ducked into the bathroom and paused before answering.

“I don’t know what you mean,” I said as I pulled the elastic band from my hair and let it fall to my back. I turned on the water in the shower, thankful that he saved some hot water for me. I heard his footsteps approach as he entered the bathroom and I climbed in the shower.

“When was the last time you jumped me after dinner in the middle of the kitchen,” he asked and laughed.

“Are you complaining,” I asked as I lathered my hair with cocoanut shampoo. The smell was soothing and the hot water had worked out my remaining tension.

“Not at all, love. Not at all. Just wondering what I did to get so lucky so I can do it again,” he replied and then left the room. I enjoyed the silence that was left in his wake and I stayed in the shower until the water ran cold. After drying off I slipped into a long sleeved black thermal night shirt that fell just short of my knees.

I climbed into bed after wrapping my wet hair into a bun and listened to the loose window pane rattle while I let visions of Murphy swim in my head. They only created question after question. Sleep never found me. I riddled myself with how Murphy had such pull on me. I wanted to know what his secret was, why he toyed with me and how he touched me…without touching me. I wanted to know why he was out in the desert watching, if he was watching and if he had anything to do with my visions and the bite. All I knew for sure was that he had a mental hold on me and I wasn’t exactly fighting it off.

Saturday nearly slipped away from me. I kept myself busy in the garage until Greyden yelled to let me know he was heading to work at the bar. He kissed my grease smudged cheek and drove away as the sun began to set. I managed to finish my oil change, laundry and clean the house in the next hour and a half. I fought back and forth on the idea of going to the bar or sitting at home alone. I didn’t want to lose my head in all my confusion tonight so I cleaned up and headed to the Watering Hole.

The parking lot was packed. Inside there were enough ex cons to fill a small prison and enough ill will to actually return them to it. I could hear conversations about drugs, the black market and one about carrying out a hit. I didn’t bother to look and see who was planning on killing someone for pay. I knew no one had a reason to put a dollar sign above my head and that’s all I needed to know. Around here you were better off not knowing what lurked in the shadows.

My table had been taken and the assholes that were seated there didn’t look like they wanted to be disturbed. I found a vacant seat at the bar and was quickly greeted with a kiss over the counter from Greyden. The television was still on the news channel and it looked like there had been a string of murders along Routes 6 and 375.  Route 6 ran north of us and 375 to the east. I had no doubt that the killer was from our area or had at least passed through Silverbow. Sometimes I wondered if we gave Sin City a run for their money on crime infestation.

The news reporter said that they all looked like robberies but that the actual attacks were devastatingly grizzly and looked as if an animal had attacked the victims. The cops were puzzled at this point and would be until DNA results came in. That could take a long time. I could hardly imagine how many times the bad guys had had substantial amounts of time to escape before DNA test results returned. There were no suspects at this time and I had little faith that they would ever come up with any.

I nursed a beer while the violent ocean of conversations crashed all around me. It was nice to have Murphy drowned out for a while. I wondered if the murders would bring the pigs into our zone. They usually tried to stay out of it as much as possible, some of them even made a little extra cash by doing so. It seemed like someone was always paying someone else off for one reason or another. The money was good and secrets were kept.

My attention was quickly torn from the television when Mr. Yates stumbled through the doors. The bar grew silent as they spotted the blood on his hand and the body lying outside on the porch behind him. Everyone sat still and tried to figure out what the fuck was going on. Greyden rested his hand on the shotgun beneath the bar close to me.

“Yates, man, are you okay,” he asked in a collected tone. One thing I admired about him was his grace under fire. Yates was obviously drunk and upset. He wiped his hand on the side of his jeans and then turned to point at the motionless body on the porch. All he could do was shake his head. His worried dark eyes looked lost until they found me. His mouth moved but his words were on a delay.

“Dakota, its him. Its one of them. Those fucking bastards took my boy and then your father. I fucking killed him. I killed him,” he informed me and stumbled closer to me, still pointing behind him though the door began to fall shut. A few men close to the exit jumped up to go check the body and vanished outside. I slid off my stool and took Mr. Yates by the arm. I assisted him to a seat at the bar and Greyden grabbed a wet cloth to clean him up.

“Are you sure its one of them, Mr. Yates. How can you be sure,” I asked and tried to watch my tone so that I would not upset him further.

“I carved that motherfucker’s mouth like a jack-o-lantern the last time I saw him. I knew the scars as soon as that fucker smiled at me,” he mumbled and let his eyes fall to the bar’s top. “I noticed he’s been hanging around these parts. I wasn’t sure at first. Then tonight he showed up at my wife’s store. She said she went to close up early and he wandered in on her. That Mr. Hines faggot was helping her stock shelves and the fucker tried to rob them. I came to pick her up from work and caught him red handed. I let Hines take Vicky home and I gutted this prick like a motherfucking pig and came to find someone to help me get rid of him.”

I sat wide eyed with a million things running through my head. One of my father’s killers was filleted on the porch just outside, Mr. Yates was a fucking idiot for sending his wife home with Hines and we now had a body to dispose of. I couldn’t find any words. Greyden put his hand on my shoulder and took Mr. Yates by the arm.

“Let me get you home. We will take care of the body. Your truck too if it needs cleaning,” he informed him as if he were a pro at this and waved at Laney behind the bar. “Laney, drive him home. Take your time,” he added knowing just as well as I did that Hines was probably fucking his wife at their house right about now. Laney grabbed a bottle of Jack Daniels and nodded to Greyden. She would make sure he would rest well tonight and possibly not recall tonight’s events.