Page 67 of Ice
“So this is an ultimatum. Either I say yes, or you don’t come back? Fuck’s sake, Ice. You gonna put pussy before your family?”
“She’s not just pussy, for fuck’s sake!I love her.”
Lissa gasped, and I turned to look at her, wishing I’d said it to her first. That was the way it should have happened. Dumb fuck.
“Fuck it. We’re coming back. If you want her out, you’ll have to throw us both out. In front of everyone.” I ended the call and crossed the room, grabbing Lissa’s throat in a light grip.
“I said it. I should have said it to you rather than him, but it’s true. I fucking love you, and I’m not giving you up. I meant what I said. I keep you, or they lose me.”
“Keep me? I’m not a pet, Ice.”
I grinned, tightening my grip on her throat which, I noticed, she didn’t even attempt to pull away from.
“You’ll be more than my pet, little vixen. You’ll be myprey. I’ll hunt you, chase you down, and fuck you just like I did last night.”
She took a deep breath, her skin going a little pink.
“If you can catch me.”
“Well, I love a challenge, darlin’, so I say bring it on.”
When her phone rang, and she stepped away to answer it, I made use of her shower, and dressed again, wishing I’d had the good sense to bring spare clothes. My t-shirt was a twisted mess, after being used as a makeshift restraint last night, but wearing it made me think about last night again, and if she hadn’t ended her call in tears, I’d have probably jumped her again.
Lissa
Iknewthecallwasgoing to be a bad thing, because it was my boss calling, or I guess, ex-boss. Nothing was finalised yet, but it was going to happen. So why did her calling to tell me I was officially fired fill me with such despair? I’d expected it. I’d expected her sniffy haughty tone, and her curt attitude, but it still tore me apart, to have it confirmed.
I’d barely finished the call before Ice was holding me, stroking my hair as I sobbed into his chest. There’d been the tiniest chance that things could have been resolved, or at least that was what I’d let myself believe, and now that my hope had been crushed, I was broken. Broken-hearted. Devastated.
My phone buzzed again, and Ice snatched it from my hand.
“Who’s Cammy?”
He shrugged and tossed the phone onto the bed.
“Babe, don’t break your heart over this, okay? I’m gonna fix things. I’m gonna make it all okay again. Just trust me. And you know what? Fuck it. We’re not going anywhere right now. We’re gonna have some coffee, and you’re gonna talk to me. Tell me how you’re feeling about everything. Get it off your chest. You said you never had someone to listen, but that’s not the case anymore. You have me, and when you cry, I’ll always hold you. I said I love you, and that wasn’t bullshit.”
He was saying all the things I needed to hear right now, so I agreed, and we sat down with coffee, and I told him about my fears now that my job was definitely gone. I told him about how pathetic it was that I wished I could get my pictures back from the walls of my old office, but I couldn’t go back there. How I would have to ask Cammy to get them.
I told him about how dire my financial situation was. That part was really hard, because I’d foolishly been enjoying my salary, rather than saving when I should have, and the result was no safety net for me right now.
He listened, he stroked my hair, he caressed my face, he brushed tears away, and he kissed me gently and sweetly, like he could actually prove his love with each touch. How could I even consider leaving town and losing this? Losing him?
“So what you’re saying is, you need some time to get your shit together.”
I nodded. That was all it was. Just some time to go back home until I can get things in order, then come back, and hopefully he’d still want me.
“Fine. You’ll come back to the clubhouse with me, and we’ll get your stuff stored before the lease runs out. You’ll have time to plan and not worry about shit, because I’ll handle the other stuff. I make money with the club, and I can look after you, until you want to try something new. Oh, and don’t worry about your pictures. While you were talking, I told Has-Been about them. He’s getting them for you.”
I had this vision of him striding into the centre, and marching into my office, to take pictures down from the walls, while Cammy stood there open-mouthed, and probably drooling, while the bitchqueen blustered, and whined, and moaned. He’d probably tell her to go fuck herself, and I wished I could see that part.
“So you’re just going to look after me, like I’m some dependent, who can’t look after herself?”
Ice shook his head, looking slightly frustrated with me.
“No, dammit. I’m gonna look after you, like a man looks after his woman, like a biker looks after his old lady.”
Shit. I knew what that meant. I knew because of my father. Dear old dad who never helped to raise me, but showed upnow and then just to piss mum off, and throw money at her. I remember him but only as this huge, towering person who came and went so fast that I couldn’t even picture his face. I only knew what it looked like, because of the few photographs mum kept. He’d shouted a lot, I remembered that too.
