Kaige supposed it wasn’t so different from masturbating, really.
Except it was.
Sally shattered the temporary stillness with a cry Kaige had come to recognize as an accompaniment to her orgasm. The clench of her pussy must have wrung a climax from Eli too. He roared as he filled her. The sight of their rapture lured Alanso into joining his forever partners.
“Are you pleased with what you’ve done? To them all, boy?” Roman showed no mercy as he pumped Carver faster and faster. “Give us the same satisfaction. Let us watch you come apart.”
The strained whine Meep surrendered had Kaige reaching out to surround the guy’s ankle with his closest hand. Why was Roman being so hard on him? Refusing to grant even a bit of kindness? And why did Carver seem to respond so earnestly to that mistreatment?
Did he like being bossed around? Or was he conditioned to react to authority from his days on the street?
As if the mean cant cracked Barracuda’s heart too—if the guy even had that organ beating in his cold chest—he leaned down and shocked them all. Carver especially, if his keening whimper could be entered as evidence.
Roman kissed Carver. Full on the mouth.
The instant their lips touched, Meep went wild. He twitched as if he were being jolted by a lightning bolt or a live wire as he sprayed his come across Barracuda’s torso. A particularly powerful spurt tagged Roman’s neck.
Kaige’s limp cock twitched at the demonstration of unadulterated lust.
How the hell had they kept that bottled inside?
Why
had they?
He didn’t give a shit as long as it was out in the open now. Because no way could they shove it back into the shadows and pretend tonight had never happened.
Even if they’d wanted to, Eli would never allow it. Not after the pain he’d caused Alanso by doing the same, shrouding the bond between them until it had almost severed. They’d learned that lesson the hard way.
Relief—both physical and something less concrete—radiated through Kaige.
For the first time in months he felt rested.
Gradually, the guys became aware of their surroundings. They cleaned up and joked about the epic release they’d shared. Things were maybe a little weird, but less so than when they’d been lying to themselves about what their unusual bond really entailed.
Five minutes or so had passed when side conversations developed. Alanso and Sally shared the details they’d worked out about their commitment ceremony.
Eli surprised Kaige by crossing to sit next to him. He appreciated the company from the bossman since Roman and Carver seemed to be holding their own congress next door to Nova. Their link had always been tighter, and he didn’t want to intrude.
“I leave you alone for one fucking afternoon and look what happens.” Cobra slapped a hand on Kaige’s thigh and squeezed. “If I’d known that’s what would go down, I’d have done it weeks ago.”
Kaige huffed. “Hey, just claiming my winnings from the bet.”
“Whatever it takes, man.” Eli grinned before turning serious. “I hope you know how much I appreciate all your help lately. Here at home
and
in running the shop. Since this went down…”
“No problem.” He knocked his shoulder into King Cobra’s. “It’s about time you trusted me to back you up. Plus I’ve gotten a chance to put some of my ideas in place for the business.”
“I’ve always tr—”
Kaige waved him off. “I know. But you were too anal to let go until Alanso loosened that tight ass of yours.”
“I guess I can’t deny that.” Eli laughed. “But I’m a different guy now. So when I saw an opportunity today, I took it. You up for an early meeting in the morning?”
“Sure.” Opening the garage had become Kaige’s responsibility lately. He didn’t mind at all. “What’s going on?”
“The wedding planner…” Eli’s halting explanation tolled a warning bell in the base of Kaige’s spine. “She’s part of a consulting business with her sister. Ms. Brown was there too and gave me her card. I took one look and knew she could get us on track with the extra prospects we’re missing lately.”
“What?” Kaige glared at Cobra. “Nothing’s slipping through the cracks. I made sure of it.”
“That’s not what I mean, Super Nova.” Eli held his hands out, palms facing Kaige. “There’s a lot happening. I’m not sure we’re giving each opportunity our full attention like we should. Ms. Brown will help us make sure we capitalize on the new avenues opening for us. Let’s hear her out, okay? If she’s half as good at business management as her sister is at coordinating events, we’re going to be golden.”
“Did I fuck something up? Why wouldn’t you have the balls to tell me?” Kaige bolted to his feet, whipping his pants around his waist. Suddenly, having his junk dangling around this guy didn’t feel safe in the least.
How dare Cobra act like Kaige hadn’t spent weeks formulating a strategy for moving forward because he hadn’t been around to hear it mapped out?
“Huh?” Eli tilted his head slightly. “No. Shit, Nova. You’ve done great. I just thought we could use some help. I can tell you’re tired. All of us are. Ms. Brown really impressed me today. I bet she’ll be able to get things under control a bit. Maybe find some more efficient processes to ease the load on everybody.”
“And you didn’t even think about discussing this with me before you hired an outsider to come dip her fingers in my pie?” Kaige tried to stop the red tide washing over his vision.
It was too late.
He had to escape before he blew. Notorious for his temper, he’d tried desperately to tame the rage that sometimes overtook him.
Right now he was failing. Like he hadn’t in years. Refusing to give Cobra or the rest of the guys the satisfaction of seeing him flip his shit, Kaige stormed toward the door.
“What the fuck, Super Nova?” Eli started to rise. Alanso and Sally took his hands and kept him from following. They knew continuing down this road would only result in an assortment of black eyes between them.
“Let him cool off,” Mustang Sally counseled her man. To his credit, he actually listened.
Maybe he wasn’t a total dumbass after all. Maybe their deepening relationships had changed them each for the better.
But if that was true, maybe Kaige
had
dropped the ball.
Failing the Hot Rods was the last thing he wanted to do.
Sick and barefoot, he jogged down the spiky stairs and across the driveway, out of sight from their apartment, without a care for the rocks jabbing his soles or the pain radiating up his calves.
It took away from the bruises on his heart.
Damn them.
The hurt only enraged him further.
He’d sworn never to let anyone have the power to make him vulnerable again.
Too late.
Chapter Two
Kaige roared as he kicked a stack of bald tires waiting behind their storage shed to be recycled. He probably broke his bare toe. Certainly he screwed up Holden’s tidy arrangements. None of that mattered when rage consumed him. A red haze tinted his vision, and he imagined himself as one of the berserkers that had sprouted a branch of his family tree. His blond hair and blue eyes declared him part Viking at least, though he’d traded the war braids of his ancestors for dreadlocks.
Hauling back, he loosed another volley of roundhouses and punches on the unyielding rubber. Dissatisfied with his progress in destroying the neat columns, he hoisted one of the heavy rings and chucked it a solid fifteen feet. It smashed into a giant oak tree and bounced before rolling away in a wobbly path that made it look drunk off its ass. Barked profanity accompanied its flight.
None of his childish responses eased the sense of failure shredding his insides. It never did. He should know by this point in his life that frothing at the mouth only transformed him into a younger version of his fanatical father.
Genetics were a bitch to combat.
Hell, he’d be thirty this year. Yet he still hadn’t tamed the beast inside him. The part of him he loathed. Worst of all, he got more steamed because this bullshit hissy fit had destroyed the calm following his killer orgasm. Sweaty sex was one of the few remedies he’d found to successfully leech his anger. His connection with the Hot Rods had been another.
Apparently not today. On either count.
“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” A curse accompanied each pummel of his fist, which clipped a valve stem on one of his passes through the late-afternoon shadows. They cast long blobs across this side of the property. Shit, that stung. Warm blood trickled over his knuckles, reminding him of days when fuckwad punks had given him something more satisfactory to beat. Like the bully—a fellow homeless teen—who had harassed him endlessly. The kid had finally filched the ratty box and newspaper bedding Kaige had slept in beneath the bridge he’d called home for a few years. It hadn’t been the first of his meager possessions the jerk had stolen rather than share, despite Kaige’s gracious offers.
It had been the last, though.
What he wouldn’t give for a good fight right now. Instead, he continued to mangle his fists on the inanimate objects he painted with a dozen different faces. Stopping and holding on the bastard he’d escaped. A piss-poor excuse for a sire. Because nearly freezing to death, starving, defending himself against pervs—not to mention older, crazier people than him on the street—and relying on the swish of endless cars flying across the highway overpass above his shelter to lull him to sleep had been better than hanging around in that damned house after his mother had “disappeared”.
Like every time he unleashed his animal side, he wanted nothing more than to pound the dickface, probably-murdering father who’d regularly behaved…exactly like Kaige was acting right now.
Shame slumped his shoulders. Steam poured off of him, wilting his entire frame.
Breathing hard, he stared at the bright red spatters mixing with sweat before trailing down his torso and wrists like bloody tears. Was this what his dad had looked like after he killed Kaige’s mother and got away with murder because no one gave a fuck except a helpless brat?
Most likely.
Except worse. Way worse.
Could he ever snap, like he had today, and hurt someone besides himself? Someone he cared about?
He hoped not, but…
Fuck.
“You almost burned out, kid?” Tom’s soft question didn’t disguise his concern well enough. “Thought you had that temper under control these days.”
“I’m out here, aren’t I?” he snarled, despite his best attempt at staying calm. Biting the hand that fed him all those years ago wasn’t his intention. “Beating the shit out of some old tires instead of your hardheaded son.”
“In that case, I’m glad you’re venting on these poor Goodyears.” Tom chuckled until Kaige spun to face him, intending to jog past and grab his keys. A ride would finish clearing his head.
“Jesus!” Eli’s father by birth, dad to all of the Hot Rods by choice, reached out when he spotted the damage Kaige had done to himself. “Come on, Nova. Let me clean you up.”
“I’m not fifteen anymore. It’s not like I scraped my knee or some shit.” Kaige shrugged and dodged, afraid of contact with any decent human being. He felt dirty, and not because of the iron tang building in the air.
“Like you would have let me nurse that either.” Tom rolled his eyes.
“When’d you become such a mother hen?” He tried to distance himself again.
“Right about the time my wife died and left me alone with a young son…seven sons and a daughter, though I didn’t know it then…to raise on my own.” No matter how much time passed, Mr. London had never fully recovered from losing the love of his life. Their screwed-up system had worked in part because he was every bit as mangled inside as the kids he’d sheltered.
“Shit, Tom. I’m sorry.” Although he congratulated himself on keeping his tone level, inside he seethed. Because again he’d hurt someone he respected. He couldn’t do anything right, it seemed.
“It’s okay.” Tom kept convincing him with that utterly placid stare and his steady grip, which led Kaige toward Tom’s neat house halfway between the garage and the shed. He must have spotted Kaige bolting past. Instead of taking him inside, he escorted his charge to the garden behind his home.
They sat together near the memorial markers Sally had made in honor of the mothers both Eli and Alanso had lost. Maybe he could ask her to paint one for his mom too someday. When it didn’t hurt so much to think about it. Another decade might do the trick.
Kaige crashed onto the bench nearby. Tom paused to dip his handkerchief in the stream that meandered around the seating area before joining him. He handed Kaige the cool, damp, folded cloth. “You’re all right, Nova. Everyone’s got their buttons. Which one did my son mash today?”
Kaige gritted his teeth as he wiped blood and sweat from his bare chest before rinsing out the soft cotton and wrapping the soothing square around his already swollen hand. After a minute of silence, he switched it to the other. He couldn’t afford to lose mobility in his fingers with the Culverson job on the schedule for tomorrow. It’d be a lot of detail work installing the custom dash and gauges.
The fabrication of parts like these marked one direction he hoped to take the garage. Unique skills would go a long way in making Hot Rods the premiere customizer in the Midwest. The high profit margin on the work would ensure their success and allow them to subsidize divisions of the business they enjoyed, even if they weren’t necessarily cash cows. It was a central pillar of his strategy. Maybe one he should have shared with Eli sooner. After all, if he had, the bossman might not have assumed Kaige was sleeping on the job. Too bad he hadn’t wanted to burden Eli with details given his infatuation with Al and Sally lately.