Page 20 of Reckless
Funny how different things turned out to be.
“Technically you just did, but go ahead,” I spoke, smirking. I knew my smirks, my grins, drove her mad, but in a good way. Just went to show you how perfect we were for each other. Fuck, I could throw her onto the table, tear off her clothes, and have at her right here.
But, I guess that would be crossing a few lines, and the teachers probably wouldn’t be too happy.
Jaz gave me a look that told me I wasn’t as funny as I thought I was, but she chose not to address my earlier quip as she went on, “I had a talk with my mom last night about my dad.”
Ah, right. I was wondering when she’d bring this up again. I’d known it was only a matter of time, but I’d hoped I’d get another call from Skull welcoming me back before this little chat happened.
Did I get another call? No. I was still exiled, pretty much, and it fucking sucked. Nothing like your family kicking your ass out and telling you never to come back.
Granted, I did go against his wishes by coming here, but I couldn’t let Jaz go. She deserved to know about the life she could’ve had, had her mother not stolen her away before she was born.
“And?” I cocked a brow, my leg moving to lean against hers. The moment my leg touched hers, her back straightened, and I resisted my urge to touch her more. It was a constant thing, that. If I had my way, we’d be in my bed every single day and all night.
And I meant my bed back at home, not here. Not the bed at the motel, although that would also work.
“She told me he’s not a good man,” Jaz said, and her words instantly made me annoyed.
Skull, not a good man? Skull was the best fucking man around, willing to do anything to keep his family safe. Every single member of the crew was family, too. To hear that her mother had badmouthed him…it made me a little upset.
“You still haven’t asked a question,” I muttered, feeling the need to defend Skull to my last breath, even if the bastard told me not to come back. Skull had been more of a father-figure to me than my actual father. That was saying something.
“I guess…I guess I want to know if that’s where you’re from,” Jaz spoke. “If you know him.”
I supposed there was no point in keeping it from her, now. Not now that her mother had told Jaz her side of the story. You know what they said: there were always two sides to every coin, two sides to each story, and the story of Skull’s lost love was something we all knew.
“You could say I work for him, in a way,” I started, wondering how to put it lightly, to put it so Jaz didn’t get freaked out. While I did view Skull as a good man, he did occasionally do things that Jaz might see as evil.
Back home, you know, we weren’t the only ones trying to survive.
“It’s been my job for as long as I could remember to keep an eye on you and your mom,” I said, shrugging. “He always knew where you were, which was why he sent your mom a letter before you turned eighteen. He wanted to meet you.”
We both knew what happened after that. Jaz’s mom forced them to drop everything and move to Midpark after getting a new job as someone’s live-in maid. I made my presence known, and then Skull told me not to come back because I’d gone against his orders.
I mean, he was going to let them go. After eighteen years of watching from afar, he was going to give up. I couldn’t let that happen; I knew how badly Skull wanted to meet Jaz. After everything that man did for me, after he’d kept me alive and mostly sane during my bleak childhood, I figured it was the least I could do.
“If he knew where we were, why didn’t he just come himself? Why send you to watch us?” Jaz questioned, pursing those tempting lips.
“He didn’t want to overstep. He knew Piper didn’t want him in your life, and he respected that, but once you turned eighteen, he wanted to give you the choice of whether to meet him or not. When you both packed up and left, he was going to let you go.”
“But then you came.”
I gave her a grin. “Yep, the Storm came and the Storm stayed.”
She rolled her eyes, never a fan of me calling myself that. That’s what the crew called me; it wasn’t my real last name, but then again, my real last name didn’t mean shit anymore. I’d long since forgotten my biological family, out of necessity.
“And then the Storm was forbidden from coming back with his girl,” I added, leaning closer to her before whispering, “because you were, you know. Skull’s been grooming me for years as his second in command. If Piper never took you, you and I would be joined at the hip right now.” Hmm. I could think of a few other places we could be joined…
“Why didn’t he want you to come back with me?” Jaz asked, utterly unaware of the turn my mind had taken. Hint: I was imagining her in black, lacy lingerie.
I had to get my mind off that image, otherwise my dick would start to get hard. I’d already felt the familiar first twitches of a dick that wanted to see some action. Bad mini-Storm, bad. “He wanted it to be your choice,” I said, shrugging as I continued to fight my aching dick. “It’s the same reason he let your mother go. He knew where Piper was the whole time, and even though it hurt him to see her go, he didn’t want to force her to do anything.”
Jaz thought on this. “He doesn’t sound that bad.”
“He’s not, unless you hurt him or one of the crew,” I said. “Sometimes you have to get your hands bloody to protect the ones you love. Skull’s never been afraid to do that.” I pictured her mother, pregnant and scared, running away from him all those years ago because she saw something that frightened her. “Some people, I guess, just aren’t meant for that kind of life.”
She quieted, thinking on this. It was a while before she whispered, “And you think I am?”
