Chains by Kristine Allen
“Lights Go Out”—Fozzy
One year later….
It was my patch party, and the liquor had been flowing since they poured a bottle of Crown over my head to christen my shiny new patch. It was tradition in this chapter of the Royal Bastards. I mean… crown… royalty… Royal Bastards.
The Royal Bastards had become my family much earlier than my patch party. That had happened the night they rescued a terrified boy from an alleyway and prevented him from going to prison for murder—manslaughter at the least. Honestly, though? They were more than family. They were home, and I wouldn’t do a fucking thing to jeopardize that.
I was halfway to shitfaced when she walked in.
Fuck. My. Life.
Legs for miles, and amber eyes haloed in chocolate that I wanted to melt into.
Jasmine.
The woman who’d happily handed her virginity to me on a silver freaking platter—little sister to one of my club brothers.
For the past year, I’d become fairly adept at staying away from her. For so many reasons, I knew it was a necessity. Thankfully, she didn’t come by the clubhouse much. If she had, I couldn’t say I’d have made it through the year without getting my ass kicked.
A year later, and I still wanted her, but I wasn’t stupid. If I needed a release, I had my hand, or Cookie obliged me with a blowjob. I never fucked Cookie. I couldn’t. Hell, I hadn’t stuck my dick in a pussy since Jasmine.
Angel and I had become pretty close over the past year. He’d ended up being assigned as my sponsor in the club, and I couldn’t have asked for a better one. The last thing I wanted to do was ruin that friendship by admitting I’d slept with his sister. Hell, I’d volunteered for as many runs as I could to keep me away from temptation. Not that I was nearly good enough for her, but it didn’t stop me from craving her.
“Chains,” she purred, and my back straightened as I steeled myself against her lure. The road name I’d been given only hours earlier seemed strange on her lips. Especially when I knew what she sounded like screaming my real one.
“Jasmine,” I replied as I drank from the glass of Crown.
The party was in full swing, but everything faded away as I absorbed the changes in her. Gone was the young innocence of the night we met, and in its place was a woman confident in her skin. A heavy feeling hit my stomach when I wondered how many other men had touched what should’ve been mine.
“Congratulations,” she murmured as her eyes trailed over my new cut.
“Thanks,” I said trying my damnedest not to reach for her and brand her with my kiss.
“You never said anything to him,” she said, and neither of us needed her to specify who she was talking about. Uncertainty broke through for a moment in the way she tugged her lower lip with her teeth. My eyes automatically found Angel, who was laughing with Voodoo and Phoenix across the common area. It was enough to remind me of why I couldn’t toss her back on the pool table, flip up her skirt, and fuck the shit out of her.
Fucking hell.
“I said I wouldn’t,” I muttered, then became incredibly interested in my drink. Except the rich honey-color of the whiskey was the same damn color as her eyes. Oh my God.
My hand palmed my face before I scrubbed it up, then down. When I was done, I stepped back, hoping to get out of range of her subtle perfume. No way could I look in her eyes.
“If you’ll excuse me,” I said, needing to get away from her. Grappling for sanity, I turned and walked down the hall to my room. The glass hit my dresser with a clunk, and I went in the bathroom to take a piss. As I washed my hands, I stared at myself in the mirror.
The past year had been busy with prospecting, but I’d found time between runs to apprentice as a tattoo artist. Recently, I’d gotten a job at the club’s tattoo shop, and I’d added a shit-ton of ink to myself over the past year. It was ironic that a man who was unable to touch people for fear of knowing way too much about them was a tattoo artist. Thing was, I excelled at it, and I had to wear gloves when I did my job, so it worked. I loved what I did.
With a sigh, I pulled on the thin leather gloves I was rarely without, flipped off the light, and left the bathroom. I stopped short when I saw her leaning against my closed door.
“What are you doing in here?” I asked warily. Fuck, she looked good. Deep red, off-the-shoulder sweater, loose black skirt that was too goddamn short, matching red Chucks, and a gold chain belt that rested over her hips. That dark hair rippled over her shoulders, making my fingers curl, and I wanted to fist it something fierce.
“Do I need to spell it out?” she asked bravely, but the nervous way she nibbled on her lower lip again gave away her uncertainty. It was her tell, whether she realized it or not.
“Jazzy, I can’t.” I gave up pretense and dropped my head in defeat. I fell against the wall for support.
“Why not? Can’t you leave those gloves on? I overheard Angel talking to Hawk, and they said something about as long as you don’t actually touch me with your hands?” The tiny bit of hope in her tone before she wet her lips was weakening my resolve.
“You know it’s more than that. Your brother,” I started.
“He doesn’t need to know everything I do,” she said in exasperation as she took a step closer.
“No, but he’s now my brother. I can’t lie to my brothers.”
“Then just don’t let him find out until we find a good way to tell him,” she said as she stopped in front of me.
“Shit, Jazzy,” I groaned as she cupped my length through my jeans. I’d been hard since I laid eyes on her; with her stroking me, I was fucking ready to explode. Precum was leaking out and soaking my boxer briefs, but I had no control.
“I’m not good enough for you, baby.” I tried again.
Still trying to maintain my stoic resolve, I kept my eyes screwed shut. The heat of her breath caressed my neck before her lips teased the skin, and I weakened.
“Fuck me, Nico,” she whispered against my lips before she teased the seam with her tongue.
At that, I was done. My hands gripped her ass, pulling her body in close to grind against her. My mouth ravished hers in a kiss that was more a battle. A mimicry of what I wanted to do to her pussy.
Soft moans and pants filled the room as I lifted her and she wrapped her legs around my hips. Still we stroked and swirled our tongues until I set her on the edge of the bed and broke loose to nuzzle against her neck. Her head fell to the side, granting me open access to pull her skin into my mouth, leaving it marked.
This time I wasn’t just lifting her skirt. I stood upright as I shrugged out of my cut.
“Take it off.” I motioned to her clothes as I hung the cut on a peg. As she slowly raised the sweater, I gripped my T-shirt at the back and ripped it over my head. Her rapid inhale as I dropped it to the floor had me casting her a glance.
Her appreciative perusal of my body as I dropped my jeans had me smirking. In one move, I kicked off my boots and shed the last few items of my clothes.
“Nico,” she said in awe, and my abdomen rippled at her touch. She fingered the stone carving on the silver chain that rested on my chest. For a brief moment, I tensed. Then she released it, and her soft fingertips skimmed over my overheated skin. I relaxed.
“This is new,” she whispered as she traced over the tattoo on my side. “A lot of this is new, huh?”
I gave a noncommittal grunt and opened my drawer to pull out a condom that I dropped on the bed. “Move up,” I said shortly and watched appreciatively as she scooted her now nude body up the bed and rested her head on my pillow.
“Goddamn, you’re more beautiful than I could’ve imagined,” I murmured as I trailed a gloved hand up her calf. Then I climbed up between her legs and kneeled as if I was worshipping at the altar of her body.
Reverently, I trailed my hands up the outside of her golden tanned legs. Then I traced the tan line at her groin, comparing the lighter skin where her bikini must’ve been. Oh, to have been the sunlight that warmed her skin… damn.
Slowly, I explored every inch as she squirmed and panted, wishing I could feel the softness with my fingertips. When I returned to the apex of her legs, I circled my gloved thumb over her clit. The corner of my mouth kicked up at her whimper.
Unable to wait another second, I dropped my mouth to her pussy, slipping my tongue through the folds to gather the dewy arousal that had begun to coat her inner thighs. A year hadn’t diminished my memory of her taste. She was perfect—so sweet.
“Oh God,” she whimpered as she tried to pull away from my mouth but then pushed back into me. I ignored the hazy visions that flickered at the back of my consciousness as I laved her slit and circled her clit. My shoulders supported her legs, and I gripped her thighs to keep her in place as I continued eating her like a man starved as she came.
“Not God,” I said as I pressed a kiss to her inner thigh. “Chains.”
“And you said you weren’t good enough for me?” she breathlessly asked.
“Honey, I’ll never be good enough for you, but I’ll be bad all night long,” I murmured against her warm skin. Laughter burst from her beautiful lips.
Teasingly slow, I worked my way up, trailing kisses as I went. I paused only long enough to roll the condom down my length. Then resting on my elbows, I notched myself at her entrance.
“Show me how bad,” she said as she dug her nails into my ass and rose up to meet me.
One tilt of my hips, and I was seated deep inside her tight heat. Her nails dug into my skin, and she gasped. Fuck, no one had ever felt like they were made for me the way she was. Only the second time I’d been balls deep in her, and I knew there’d never be another like her.
With a whimper, she wiggled under me, begging me to move.
Happily, I obliged. Each stroke into her tight sheath had me unraveling a little more. Afraid I’d blow my load like a teenage boy, I flipped her legs over my shoulders and circled that tight bundle of nerves. The faster I worked her over, the faster her soft little noises came.
Fingers clawing into the bedding, she began to pant and her muscles went rigid. Still, I moved at a steady pace as I fought this ending too soon.
When she whined and panted as her body went taut, I pulled out and fused my mouth to her pulsing pussy. I sucked on her clit and slipped my tongue in her sopping wet cunt to keep working her until she thrashed at the sensation overload and yanked at my hair.
Once the pulsing subsided, I gave her no mercy. I flipped her over, ass in the air, and pushed her chest into the pillows. “Hang on,” I whispered in her ear in warning, and she whimpered.
Her pretty pink pussy glistened in the dim light of the room, and I trailed two fingers through her slippery slit, then rubbed her arousal into the leather. Unable to wait any longer, I drove my cock hard into her core and commenced fucking our brains out.
I smacked the perfect globe of her ass with my hand, reveling in the sound of the leather hitting her flesh.
“Harder,” she urged. Surprised, my rhythm faltered for a moment before I grinned wickedly. My hand met her ass cheek again, and she tightened around my thick cock with a gasp. The red it left on her golden flesh had me so turned on, I knew I’d be coming soon.
“I’m going to come in this pussy,” I ground out as I rammed my cock deep and held her hips in a bruising grip.
“Yes,” she hissed as I continued to thrust—only faltering as that familiar feeling crept up my spine. “Don’t stop.”
“Not on your life,” I said through gritted teeth as my balls tightened and I blew so hard in the condom, it wouldn’t have surprised me if it broke. To amplify the utter goddamn bliss, she came again. Between my dick pulsing and her pussy squeezing, my eyes fucking crossed.
We both fell to the bed, me rolling off to the side so I didn’t crush her. The room echoed with our heavy breathing as we fought to come back to earth. I honest-to-God didn’t know what to say. My mind was completely scrambled.
“Holy shit,” she whispered between gasps.
An incredulous laugh escaped me, and I pulled her closer. “You can say that again,” I murmured into her sweaty neck before running my tongue up the side to taste her salty skin. Knowing I’d made her that way had my chest expanding.
“Now what?” she asked, still out of breath.
“Now we get cleaned up and get out there before anyone realizes we’re gone.” I intentionally misunderstood her question, because I wasn’t ready to analyze the magnitude of my feelings for her. For the past year, I’d avoided her the best I could, but now all bets were off, and I wasn’t sure how to handle that. Especially being newly patched and her brother being one of my patched brothers.
I crawled out of bed and walked to the bathroom on shaking legs. Once the water heated, I brought her a warm washcloth. She wiped her face and then the rest of her perfect body as I pulled my clothes on. My cut was last on, and I gave it a proud once-over, then slipped my arms through and shrugged it up to settle it on my shoulders.
“I’ll go out first. You wait a bit, then make sure the coast is clear before you step out of here.”
She nodded, but I could see the worry shadowing her honey-and-chocolate gaze. I leaned down and pressed a kiss to her lips that was slow but sensual before breaking apart.
“Thanks, babe. That was amazing,” I said with a grin before drinking her in one last time.
She gave a half-smile and cocked a brow. “You’re damn straight it was.”
With one last glance at her beautiful profile as she dressed, I quietly stepped into the hall. I needed to find a way to talk to Angel ASAP.
As I got to the end of the hall, a firm hand dropped on my shoulder and pulled me around. Instantly, I drew back, ready to deck whoever had grabbed me.
“Easy!” Ghost demanded. I sighed in relief but gave him a glare.
“What the fuck, Ghost? You need to quit doing that. One of these days, a brother is gonna deck you, and it won’t be their fault,” I said with a chuckle.
Except he didn’t laugh.
My smile faltered, and I looked at him in confusion.
“What the fuck are you doing?” he asked with his nostrils flaring.
I gave him a wary smile. “Celebrating. What are you doing?”
Out of nowhere, he double-fisted me into the wall, knocking the goddamn wind out of me. “This isn’t funny! Are you trying to lose your patch the first day? Or do you have a death wish maybe?”
“What are you talking about?” I asked as I gasped for breath. I was getting frustrated, but at the back of my mind, I knew.
“Look, I know about last year when you first got home. I never said anything because it seemed like a one and done. You were one helluva prospect and kept your nose out of trouble, but you get patched and you’re back at it like that patch on your back makes you invincible?” He looked incredulous as he gave me one last push into the wall and stepped back.
“Are you talking about Jasmine? Because—” I started, but he cut me off.
“Angel will kill you. And that’s after Venom strips you of that patch you worked so hard for. You do not fuck with ol’ ladies, sisters—or mothers, for that matter. Especially Angel’s sister, fuck! He’s so goddamn protective of her, it’s not funny. If you know what’s good for you and you want to remain a Royal Bastard, I suggest you never touch her again,” he said as he raked a hand through his hair.
“But I—”
“No. No buts. I’m serious, brother.”
Frustrated, I planned to try to talk to Angel, but then I worried. What if Ghost was right and he wouldn’t hear me out? I’d lose Jasmine and my family, because if what Ghost said was true, Angel would make sure I never saw her again. Not that I was such a pussy that I wouldn’t survive, but I wouldn’t want to. Unless someone had grown up like I had, then been a part of something like the Royal Bastards, they wouldn’t understand.
Ghost slapped a hand to my shoulder and steered me out into the common area. Cheers went up from my brothers and the brothers from visiting chapters. The alcohol had really been flowing, and it was evident by the laughter, noise level, and behavior of everyone there.
Unbidden, a grin lifted my lips. I’d straighten everything out later. Tonight was a night to celebrate.
“Chains! Our newest brother!” Phoenix shouted with a huge grin as he raised his glass to me.
They shoved me into a chair at the center of the room as I laughed. They all started chanting, and I gazed around the room with a confused laugh. Then it dawned on me they were chanting “Bastards” broken into two beats. Laughing, they ran in a drunken circle around me, wrapping me to the chair with ribbon I could easily break out of but didn’t because I figured it was part of my initiation. If they wanted to “tie me up” and pour more alcohol on me, so be it. I’d survived the initiation line, so I’d survive one more liquor bath.
Then Cookie came sauntering through the crowd as it parted for her. Everyone was whooping. She gave me a saucy grin, and mine faltered a little when I saw she wore nothing but a skimpy thong. “What’s going on?” I asked, unease settling over me.
After dancing around me to a sultry tune someone popped on over the speakers, she dropped to her knees. To hoots of encouragement, she made a production of removing my belt and unzipping my jeans. I tried to pull away, but the ribbon I thought I could break didn’t budge.
“Cookie, what are you doing? Don’t do that,” I stuttered as soon as I realized what she was up to. Everyone cheered and laughed as she pulled out my cock and started stroking it. I jerked on the binding again.
Shit.
“Damn, boy, didn’t know you carried a cannon in your pants,” Kicker chortled. Any other time I would’ve been proud and joked with him. Hell, if it wasn’t for Jasmine, I might’ve humored them and let Cookie suck my cock in front of them. Except things were different now—because of Jasmine.
Despite my protests, everyone kept cheering and chanting.
Ghost wasn’t cheering, and I soon learned why. Evidently Jasmine had been making her way along the wall to get around everyone but had frozen when she hit a break in the crowd. That’s when our eyes met. Her whiskey gaze darkened to mocha as her eyes became glossy, and I struggled against the stupid fucking ribbons.
Angel must’ve noticed his sister’s horror at what she was seeing, because he pushed his way to her, blocking her from my view, and guided her out of the building. As I pulled at the bindings, what Ghost said kept poking at me. Jasmine deserving better than me. Losing my patch. Losing my family. Losing Jasmine anyway. I swallowed hard and closed my eyes.
“Enough!” I roared and the laughter fizzled out. Cookie backed off. “Take this shit off. Y’all are fucked up. You wanna drown me in whiskey, go ahead, but this is too fucking far,” I said. Someone sliced through the ribbon, and it fell. As I stood and straightened myself, the ribbon fluttered to my feet.
“Sorry, brother, we were just having fun, and well, we uh…” Kicker muttered.
“Cookie’s done that for you before, we just figured it would be funny,” E said as he shoved his hands in his pocket.
“Yeah, well that’s on my terms, fuckers,” I grumbled as I stormed off to my room.
My chest burned and ached as if someone had stabbed me in the heart, but I blocked everything out. Wishing it had been Jasmine kneeling at my feet, I knew the rest of my life would be spent pretending it was her.
And a piece of me died.