A whimper escaped me. “I don’t think I can make it back down.”
“Of course you can. We’re almost there. Then you can rest.”
All the huffing and puffing was worth it when I took in the scene before me. At the top of the rocks, a breathtaking view of the landscape greeted us below. Jagged rocks peeked out from the sandy ground and little shrubs seemed dropped from the sky almost as if someone had scattered them that way. I could see the narrow roads we travelled to get here, looking far less intimidating and smaller from these great heights. Having pushed through the fatigue, I found a little strength while standing there, overlooking the desert landscape. It felt so peaceful and relaxing. If I had given up moments ago, I wouldn’t have had the pleasure to experience this. I was glad Hastie had convinced me and pushed me to get here. Looking at this view reassured me that there was life in this post-flare world.
I smiled and allowed myself to enjoy the view. Already my pumping heart was slowing to a resting beat, no longer feeling as if it would barrel right through my ribs.
As I stood there, watching the kaleidoscope of indigo, pink, and orange bleed into one another in the vibrant sky, Hastie put his arms around me and held me close. This was the best birthday gift ever.
I titled my head back to meet Hastie’s eyes. They looked lighter in the sunlight, with flecks of gold and brown mixed in with the intense green. They were also boring into me with intimate knowledge. “You know, I’ve always wanted to watch the sun set and rise on the same day,” I told him.
“We can do that.” He touched my face. “We can do anything you want, birthday girl.”
Birthday girl.
That was the first time Hastie had called me something other than babe or baby. While I loved it when he called me those things, I found that I liked this too. Especially when he was looking at me like that.
It was times like this when I believed I could really love Hastie. He looked at me like he was ready to hand me the world. “Thank you,” I whispered even though the words felt entirely inadequate. “Thank you for all of this.”
Hastie shot me a wicked smile. “I almost thought you’d pussy out before we could get here.”
“Either that or pass out.”
“But that’s not all,” he said before shooting a glance over to his right. My gaze followed his and I thought I heard some voices. Familiar ones.
“Seven?”
My best friend emerged from behind a rock, a bright smile plastered on her face. “Happy birthday!” she squealed before pulling me into a hug. It was the rib-cracking kind that could squeeze all your breath from you. But in that moment, I was too caught up in my happiness to complain about it.
A few seconds later, Lucky walked out, holding a bottle of alcohol in one hand and a cigarette in another. He took a drag before offering it to me and I did the same, inhaling deep.
“’Atta, girl,” he said after I returned it to him. “Here, happy birthday!” He shoved the bottle of Jack into my arms.
“Parting with your favorite?”
Lucky’s grin widened. “You’ll be sharing so it’s all good.”
“He plans to get you drunk,” Seven cut in. “I don’t know how Hastie feels about that.”
“As long as I’m the only one taking advantage of her, then we’re good,” Hastie drawled.
Seven elbowed my side. “Ooh, lucky you!”
The alcohol flowed freely after that. Our minds grew fuzzy with each shot consumed. Laughter spilled from our mouths like giddy children. We managed to finish the bottle right as the sun disappeared. The growing darkness engulfed us like a blanket that had been tossed over our little world.
Glancing around, I watched as Hastie began making a small fire. His movements were swift and precise, limbs moving from memory rather than thought. Creating fire was a basic skill you had to learn after the flares since power came and went so freely, and I could tell Hastie had done this countless times before. Within minutes, a fire was blazing between us. Seven pulled out some blankets.
“Damn, woman.” Lucky laughed. “What else do you have in that purse of yours?”
“I’ve got everything you could dream of!”
“More drinks?” he asked hopefully. A knowing grin spread across her face before she pulled out two more bottles from her purse. Both Lucky and Hastie gave a little whoop at the discovery. Boys were so damn easy to please. I shook my head as they attacked the whiskey like bloodhounds. Lucky nodded at Seven. “Any more?”
“That’s it. So you better go slow.”
“Wow. You’re packing some insane shit in that purse. No wonder it felt so heavy carrying it up here.”
“Shut up, I don’t see Hastie complaining.”
“He wasn’t the one dragging ass to bring it up here!” Lucky grabbed the purse, now made smaller since most of her crap had been taken out and took a peek inside. “What else have you got in here?” Turning it upside down, he emptied its contents on the blanket before him.
“Hey!” Seven protested. As Lucky went through each item, she was shoving it back into her bag. There were the usual things. Canteens filled with water. Another anti-radiation blanket. A cell phone. A tampon that Lucky picked up and examined, then tossed away like it was a dead animal when he realized what it was. A few coins. Lipsticks.
Lucky snatched up a coin before Seven could take that from him too. Mischief sparkled in those blue eyes as he asked, “Wanna play a game?”
“Sure.”
“The rules are simple. Flip the coin in the air and call out heads or tails. If you guess right, you’re all good. You pass the coin to the person on your right. If you guess wrong, you pass the coin to your left and . . .” Lucky paused, giving a little smirk. “Then you take off one article of clothing or you take a shot.”
“Anything in pairs is considered one article of clothing,” Hastie added.
“Have you played this game before?” I asked him.
His shoulders lifted in an innocent shrug. “Once or twice.”
Uh huh, yeah right.
“And the catch is,” Lucky continued. “You can’t do the same thing—sip or strip—twice in a row. Got it?”
I slanted a look at Seven. She was trying to hide her smile, but I could tell that she liked the idea. “Got it!”
Lucky tossed the coin to me. “You first then, birthday girl.”
I caught it as it came flying towards me and flipped it into the air. “Tails.” As it came hurtling down, I caught it and slapped it against the back of my palm.
Tails.
Phew!
I passed the coin to Hastie on my right. “Heads,” he called out. We watched it spin over and over before he caught it again. “Fuck.”
“Sip or strip, brother,” Lucky said on a laugh, holding a shot out.
Without a word, Hastie snatched the shot from Lucky and tossed it back. I was entranced by the way his throat worked and how his lips looked dewy from the drink.
“Thank fuck,” Lucky breathed. “I’m too sober to see your naked ass.” Hastie tossed the coin back to me and when I groaned, a shot was passed in my direction.
Seven’s next turn resulted in the same misfortune. “Ugh,” she groused. “Pass me the bottle.” When Lucky flipped and also guessed wrong, he didn’t bother with a shot glass; he simply drank straight from the bottle. At the rate we were going, we’d be either drunk or naked within minutes.
Round and round we went. Seven held her palm over the coin, a smile lifting her lips as she peeked through her fingers. “Oh God,” she breathed when she met my eyes. “Another shot will just make me puke.”
“Just take the top off then,” Lucky suggested. “You know you want to.”
She shot him a look. “You’re weirdly obsessed with my boobs.”
“Who wouldn’t be?”
As I laughed, Seven rolled her eyes and took off her shoes instead. She glanced triumphantly at Lucky before tucking her feet beneath her. He didn’t seem that disappointed though. “Whatever, babe. Few more rounds and you’ll be buck naked.” Seeing as she only had about three pieces of clothing left, it was a real possibility.
The game continued smoothly. Or as smoothly as it could get with four drunks. The level of alcohol in the bottle continued to drop. Seven giggled as my turn came up. “What will it be? Sip or strip?”
I was practically naked myself, wearing only my bra and panties. Another shot would only make me throw up. Hastie’s eyes landed on me as I reached behind me to undo my bra. “Game over,” he growled.
“What?” Lucky cried. “You can’t do that!”
“
Game over
,” he repeated. I yelped as he picked me up and carried me away, fireman style. Seven’s hysterical laughter was the only thing I heard before Hastie took me around the corner.
“What the hell was that?” I asked when he set me down.
“For once, I’m glad you disobeyed me.”
“What are you talking about?”
“That.” He pointed down at my panties. “I’m glad you chose to put those on this morning. Otherwise, that game would’ve been a lot shorter.”
A smile curled my lips. “Don’t like others seeing me in my panties, Hastie?”
“Never.”
A responding shiver ran up my spine. “Do
you
like seeing me in my panties?”
His mouth grazed the shell of my ear. “I prefer ripping ’em off you.”
“Why don’t you show me?”
Hastie started by trailing his fingers down my ribs until they met the edge of the panties. My pulse spiked just from a single graze of his fingertips. “Are you wet for me?”
I nodded, not trusting myself to speak just yet. A finger slipped beneath my panties to discover how much I wanted him. All night I’d been thinking about this but my imagination didn’t come close to the real thing. Hastie’s rough growl of approval created more pulsing heat between us. In a rough tug, he yanked my panties aside and slipped a finger inside me, then another. “You’re tight as fuck.”
His fingers pumped in and out of me, stealing my speech with every stroke. I bit my lower lip to keep from crying out. Hastie knew just how to get me off. My body grew taut like a trip wire, building to a quick crescendo. Then his lips descended on mine, light and teasing, so at odds with the way his hands commanded my body. I exploded like I had swallowed a stick of dynamite, my body melting against him as I came back down.
Pulling back, Hastie removed his fingers and brought them to his mouth. His pink tongue darted out to lick his thumb. That was when the ink on his knuckles caught my attention. I barked out a laugh as the letters R.I.D.E. stared back at me.
Well, shit, son. I just got the true meaning of it.
I caught Hastie’s amused look. “Best get back, babe.”
Back to “babe” again. I couldn’t fight the smile that spread my lips. “Okay,” I said, following him as he held out his hand.
“Still want to stay up until sunrise?” he called out over his shoulder.
I nodded as I dropped down to the blanket again. Seven was curled up into a little ball, sleeping while Lucky fixed the fire. “Yes,” I said, even as a yawn garbled my answer. Finding a comfortable space beside Seven, Hastie dropped down beside me, resting his arm over a bent knee.
As much as I wanted to stay up to watch the sunrise like I had always dreamed of doing, my eyelids grew heavy. I didn’t mind waiting another day to try for this one. Enough of my dreams had come true today already.
Hastie
“Hastie,” Kitt called out the next morning at the clubhouse. “You need to see this.” His face was a mask of anger, which signaled to me that whatever he was going to show me next wasn’t good news.
“What is it?”
Instead of answering, he handed me an envelope. As I opened it and pulled out its contents, Beck and Lucky appeared at my side. “Shit,” I muttered as I looked down at the images in my hand. My worse fears had come to fruition.
“Let me see.” I handed Lucky the pictures of Brennan and his men, all in the process of receiving a new shipment of firearms.
“How long ago were these taken?” I asked Kitt.
“Angel took them only a few hours ago.”
I shook my head. Brennan was really playing with fire now. If the bastard thought he could continue this . . . It was easy to slide into a violent frame of mind. “I’m going to see him.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Beck said.
I spun around. “All I’m going to do is have a word with him.” And maybe stir shit up while at it.
“Bullshit,” the sergeant at arms sneered. “You’re on edge. You need to calm down and think clearly about this.”
“I am. If we don’t do anything to stop this, this can quickly get out of hand.” I cracked my knuckles in anticipation of using them tonight.
“Then bring backup. I’ll come with.”
“Me too,” Lucky volunteered.
“No. If we storm in there, they’ll see it as an attack.” It was better if I went by myself.
They all knew that was true. So with great reluctance, they all nodded. Beck’s steady gaze met mine. “Be careful then.”
“I will.” I rode the streets like a beast possessed, eating up the asphalt as if I was being chased by hellhounds.
Ward Three’s borders were lined with crops. It was almost startling to see so much vegetation in this area whereas Ward Four was completely devoid of it. I made no secret about my approach, revving the engine obnoxiously loud for the people around me to hear. I wanted them to know I was purposely crossing their lines. Hopefully, it would throw them into a panic, wondering if this was some sort of setup or attack on their Ward.
People scattered out of my way like rats in an alley. Approaching the building that Brennan often used, I parked up front and swung my leg over the bike, striding towards the entrance. I was surprised to find that there was no one there to greet me with the amount of noise I was making.
No one answered when I knocked. “Open up!” I called out. A second later, the door opened a slither and a tanned face poked through. “Where’s Brennan?”
The guy gave a short shake of his head. “He ain’t here.”
“Go get him.”
“I told you he ain’t here.”
Not the answer I was looking for.
CRACK!
His nose broke on impact. The soft cartilage was no match for the force of the door slamming into his face as I kicked it in. The guy stumbled back, stunned and clutching his bloody nose.