Joanna Wylde - Reaper’s Property

Sept. 17—Present Day

I gaped at Horse.

“You’re threatening to kill my brother just so you can sleep with me?”

Mohawk man walked casually over to Horse, draping an arm around his shoulders.

“She’s cute, but not real bright, brother,” he said, glancing toward me with a smirk. “Why don’t you let me take her for a ride, get her trained up for you?”

He gyrated his hips suggestively and the rest of the guys snickered. Horse turned fast, punching him in the stomach. Mohawk man doubled over but managed to stay standing as Horse grabbed my arm and jerked me out the door. He marched me away from the trailer into the orchard until we’d gone a pretty good distance, then pushed me back against one of the trees, leaning into my face and grabbing my shoulders.

“I don’t want to sleep with you,” he said, saying every word slowly and carefully, shaking me a little for emphasis. “I want to fuck you. Sleeping, cuddling, all that other shit is for girlfriends and old ladies. You’ve made it pretty goddamn clear you aren’t interested in any of that, so let’s get this straight. I’m threatening your brother because he stole from the club, which had nothing to do with you. You steal from the club, you pay in blood. You’re his blood. We take you, he pays. Fucking you is just a bonus.”

“So you’re taking me to show that people shouldn’t steal from the club?”

“It’s a fuckin’ miracle, she gets it,” he muttered to no one, throwing up his hands. “Your brother’s lucky, because I wanna stick my dick in you more than I wanna kill him. Otherwise this wouldn’t be worth the trouble. If Jeff-hole gets his shit together and pays back the club I might let you go—after I’m done with you. If he doesn’t, then I’ll find some other use for you. Got it?”

I nodded again.

“No games, no bullshit,” he said. Then he stepped back, running his hand through his hair roughly, pacing away from me. I started to follow him but he turned back around toward me. “You do this, it’s your choice. I’m not raping you. You’re making a decision to pay for your brother’s mistake on your back. You get me?”

Not exactly much of a choice, considering the gun pointed at my brother’s head. I didn’t say it out loud though. If the Reapers were willing to give us an out, I’d take it and call it whatever he wanted.

“I’m serious,” Horse said, glaring at me. “You call it off any time you want. I’m not gonna lock you up and watch you every minute. You make this deal, it’s up to you to keep it. And you don’t have to make the fucking deal. Your brother’s an idiot and he knew what he was getting into. This isn’t your mess and it’s not your job to bail him out.”

“You trying to talk me out of it?” I asked. “Well, you can’t. I meant what I said. I’d do anything for Jeff. Anything.”

His jaw clenched as he turned, growled and kicked one of the trees so hard it was a miracle he didn’t break a toe. Then he marched me back to the trailer.

We went inside to find the other guys sitting around, drinking beer and talking. Jeff lay on his side in the middle of the room, crying silently, the bruises covering what I could see of him getting uglier by the minute. Horse ignored all of them, pushing me into my bedroom and closing the door he’d cracked behind us. He ripped open my closet door, found a backpack and thrust it at me.

“You’ve got thirty minutes,” he said. “Then you’re on my bike and we’re headed home. Grab anything you want to keep.”

“Okay,” I replied, hoping he would leave me to pack in peace. Instead he leaned back against my still-cracked door, watching as I dug through my closet. I decided to go light on the clothing. I could always get more stuff to wear, but I wanted my pictures and what few keepsakes I’d managed to take with me from Gary’s. It was depressing to realize just how little I had.

I pulled out my shoebox of papers, tossing it on the bed. The box tipped over, spilling out photos. I ignored it, turning back to dig through the closet again. My mom had a pretty nice pair of leather boots in there somewhere, and while I’d never been a boot person, it seemed like wearing something to protect my legs might be important on a bike.

Horse sat on the bed, flipping through the photos. I ignored him, tugging at my cargo capris when they rode down, showing off my thong. Why had I decided to wear it today?

“You wear that shit for him?” Horse asked, his voice like ice. I turned and looked up to find him holding up a wedding picture smeared with dried blood. Me and Gary. So fucking young.

“Wear what?” I asked.

“That butt floss,” he snapped. “Why the fuck are you wearing a thong to work at a daycare? Are you seeing him again?”

“No!” I burst out, horrified. “I haven’t seen him since he beat the shit out of me, you should know that. He hasn’t called me, nothing. When I get all the papers ready, Denise’s husband said he’d serve them for me.”

“You keeping this?”

“Yeah,” I said, studying the picture. I’d had so many hopes and dreams then back then, and I let a man destroy them. “I don’t want to forget. At least not yet.”

Horse dropped the picture without a word and I kept packing, glancing at my phone periodically to check the time. Finally I surveyed the growing pile on my bed, sad that my entire life took up such a small space. All I had left to grab was bras and panties, which I really didn’t want to dig through with him watching me.

I didn’t exactly have a choice though.

I stood up and opened my underwear drawer. There wasn’t a lot, but if I was going to be Horse’s…um…whatever…some pretty panties might come in handy. He came up behind me, reaching down and cupping my hips in his big hands, pulling me back into his body as he leaned over me. He took a deep breath.

“I love how your hair smells,” he said gruffly as his hard cock pressed against my butt. I heard Picnic and the others talking in the living room. Jeff was out there, waiting to see if they were going to kill him.

“I have ten minutes left,” I murmured, my voice tense. “Please.”

Horse let go of my hip, grabbing my hair roughly and twisting my head around to the side. His lips covered mine, taking me hard, tongue thrusting in and out. I moaned, collapsing against him. His other hand reached around to my front, ripping open the buttons on my capris, and I heard one clatter against the floor. His fingers plunged into my panties, sliding roughly along my clit before sinking into me. I moaned, despising myself because it turned me on so much.

He pulled his mouth away from mine, pinning me with his gaze. I couldn’t breathe, his eyes were so intense—full of desire and lust and anger, all directed at me.

“This pussy,” he said, fingering me. I moaned in response, ashamed at how easily he made me wet. “This pussy is mine. You are mine. I’ll fuck you when and where I want, and you can either take it or get the fuck out. Are we clear?”

I nodded, shivering. I wanted to hate him but my body disagreed. He kept his hand in my hair, holding me tight as he stroked me repeatedly. My legs weakened and I whimpered, desperate for relief. That’s when he took my mouth again.

Now his tongue thrust in time with his fingers. The flesh between my legs tightened, muscles flexing all over my body. Horse stroked harder and I quivered on the edge. He pulled his mouth away from mine, dropping his lips to my neck, licking and sucking as I thrust my hips against him, desperate to come. Then he bit my neck and I moaned.

Loud enough to be heard in the other room, I’m sure.

Horse pulled his hand out of my pants and stepped back. I froze in disbelief, my panting breath loud in the room. When I turned to him, shaky, he gave me a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. Then he slowly and deliberately lifted his fingers, licking off my juices.

“Don’t care how good you taste, you don’t call the shots,” he whispered. “We clear?”

“Your rules,” I whispered back. “Or I leave. And what happens if I do?”

“To you?” he said. “Nothing. You’re with me of your own free will. But the club has to be paid in blood, Marie, not even I control that. Don’t forget.”

I nodded quickly.

He pushed me gently to the side and opened my lingerie drawer, digging around in it. He pulled out several thongs and a teddy, tossing them on the floor.

“You won’t need these,” he said. I nodded as he turned back to the drawer, trying not to think of what else he would find in there. I winced as he stopped suddenly, thinking I had the shittiest luck on earth because this wasn’t going to be pretty.

He pulled out the bundled black Reapers t-shirt he’d left crumpled on my floor after that disastrous night he’d spent in my bed, hefting it as he glanced toward me with a question in his eyes. I shook my head, blushing fiercely, reaching out to take it.

Horse didn’t hand it over. Instead he unrolled it, eyes widening as he found the bright-pink jelly vibrator with the dual heads, one for my clit and one for my G-spot. We both stood there silently, looking at it. Then he rolled it back up and handed it to me, eyes full of satisfaction.

“Pack the shirt and the toy,” he said, watching as I stuck it in the bottom of my backpack. I don’t think I’d ever been more embarrassed in my life. I didn’t meet his eyes as I dumped the rest of my things in, zipped it up and threw it over my shoulder.

“That it?” he asked. “You want anything else from the living room or kitchen? It won’t be here if you try to come back.”

I shook my head, still unable to speak. Stupid, stupid, stupid…

He leaned in close and whispered in my ear.

“Next time you want to play with your pretty pink toy, you do it while I’m watching. If you’re a good girl, I’ll let you wear the tee. Got it?”

I nodded. We walked out through the living room, past Jeff and the Reapers, and out the front door.

Aug. 13—Six weeks earlier

I didn’t expect to see Horse again after the abrupt end I’d called to our lovemaking. Picnic, Max and another guy called Bam Bam had been to visit a couple of times. Jeff seemed happy enough to see them, and they all loved the food I cooked. After they’d leave though, Jeff would always get real quiet and touchy. He’d also started going to the casino more often, which worried me.

He never came home acting like a man who’d won.

But even though I sensed something was wrong, I had come to enjoy their visits. I wasn’t sure if I wanted Horse to come back or not. Every time I saw bikes in the driveway, I was terrified I’d see him and disappointed when I didn’t. I dreamed about him all the time, and more than once I’d re-lived our incredible morning together with my vibrator.

Apparently he’d forgotten about me though. I wasn’t about to ask any of the other guys about him. I couldn’t stand pity, and that was about the best I could hope for from them. During this time, Jeff seemed more and more detached, smoking out constantly and barely talking to me or eating. I worried about him, of course, and today I was particularly frustrated because he’d promised me he’d stay sober.

You see, today I planned to go pick up my stuff from my old house.

Yesterday had been my day off, and I’d driven to the Women’s Center in Kennewick to try to figure out how to divorce Gary. I couldn’t afford a lawyer but I didn’t want anything from him, so I figured it would be quick and easy. If I got lucky, I wouldn’t even have to see him. I could just send over the papers for him to sign.

But the super-sweet woman who met with me, Ginger, shared some hard truths. For example, when I left, I’d grabbed my purse and a bag full of clothing. But I hadn’t gotten my social security card, my birth certificate, the title to my car or my pictures or keepsakes or anything. And she was right when she pointed out that while I might not care about any of that stuff now, I might need it down the line. I certainly shouldn’t trust Gary with it.

She made a good point.

She also wanted me to file for a restraining order against him, but I knew Gary. A restraining order would piss him off in a big way. Right now he wasn’t messing with me. If I provoked him like that he might find me and hurt me again, so I came up with a plan to go to the house and get my stuff when I knew he’d be gone.

Every Monday he played poker with his buddies. He didn’t even skip out when his mom died. If I went on a Monday I’d be safe, unless I ran into Misty, who was not only his new whore, but who’d worked at the grocery store with me for two years. Last time I checked, she had a regular Monday night shift. Even if I ran into her, I figured she’d stay out of my way—it wasn’t like I was a threat to her, and I wasn’t afraid of her. She might be taller than me, but she was a frighteningly skinny thing who took her manicure way too seriously to get in a cat fight. In fact, the longer I was free from Gary, the more pity I felt for her. I’d already slipped out of the noose, but her?