Split - Coffin Nails MC (Contemporary New Adult Erotic Dark Romance) (Sex & Mayhem Book 7) (10 page)

Asty smiled. “A hothead. He butted heads
with Tooth sometimes because of that. But he was very loyal and strong and
caring.”

“I’m sorry I brought it up. I’m sure he
lived knowing he had a loving family and brothers that always had his back.”

Asty nodded and reluctantly rested her head
on his shoulder, breathing in his cologne, which at the moment was more
soothing than arousing. “He will never be forgotten.” She cleared her throat.
“How about you? Did you lose someone important?”

“Promise you won’t laugh, okay?” Hunter
took a deep breath.

Asty looked into his eyes, intrigued. It
was strange to be so close to him without being sexual, but she liked it more
than she’d like to admit. “Promise.”

“I lost God. I grew up with him everywhere
in the house, heard of him at school and at church, and everyone around me
believed in him. I thought that if I only tried harder, I’d feel his presence
like they said they did. But when I got to my teens, religion just didn’t make
sense anymore. I didn’t feel the presence of God, I didn’t see a reason to
follow rules someone made up hundreds of years ago, you know? Lots of them are
contradictory anyway … but what I mean is that when I owned up to my lack of
faith, I did sort of feel I lost something, but I just couldn’t go on
pretending.”

Asty swallowed hard and slowly stroked his
hand under the table. She didn’t frequently discuss those things with people
who had a different perspective on spirituality than her own.  “I’m sorry.
That must have been very hard. I can only imagine how confusing this had to
be.”

“You lose a sense of order, you lose the
way you structure your life, and there’s always this niggling feeling that
maybe your family is right. Maybe you did get tempted by the devil, and you
will be going to hell. But I gained so much more instead. Autonomy of thinking,
the right to assess things on my own terms ...” Hunter entwined his fingers
with hers, and his hand was so big it got her heart racing. “That’s why I hated
prospecting, I suppose. I like the brotherhood of a club, it’s a family I’ve
lost, but I don’t like to just blindly believe what others tell me.”

Asty nodded, looking at him with a
completely new perspective. It might have been her preconceptions, but she
didn’t expect him to be this smart and eloquent. She understood him so well. “I
would hate that too. I never really fit in anywhere. But Satan welcomes
everyone. You don’t need to be afraid of him.”

Hunter smiled. “Is that what you got taught
at home? I can just picture this. Sunday morning, breakfast with the family.
Deviled eggs.”

Asty snorted and poked his jaw with the
side of her head. “Stupid. It’s not like we need to pray to him before each
meal and dedicate food to him. He supports those who are independent and don’t
follow the herd. We’re both safe.”

“Are we though?” Hunter wiggled his
eyebrows. “You didn’t sacrifice me in that ritual you did, did you? My dick’s
not gonna fall off?”

Asty shook her head, bewitched by the smile
in his eyes. “I wouldn’t sacrifice innocent people.
Real
Satanists would
never do that,” she felt she needed to add. Most people had the strangest
preconceptions about her faith.

Hunter cocked his head. “So you actually
are a Satanist?”

Asty shrugged. “Technically, I’m a
Demonolater. Just like there are many kinds of Christians, there are many kinds
of Satanists.” She wanted to continue, but all of a sudden, there was a pale
hand knocking on their table, and her mouth dried.

“Astaroth Horton! I hardly recognized you
with all that makeup.” The smooth feminine voice tickled something ugly deep in
Asty’s stomach even before she looked at the pretty face of Lilly, her high
school nemesis. Framed by cherry-colored hair, adorned by a discrete septum
piercing and subtle cat-eye makeup, Lilly looked like the most socially
acceptable of goths in her little black dress and leather jacket. She was still
slim and tall with clear skin and bright eyes. She was one of those people who
only used transparent powder and claimed they detested girls who wore
foundation in the summer, despite never having any skin problems themselves.

Asty
hated
Lilly for her smug
comments and the way she had always picked on her, even though they had been
technically in the same clique. She was the top bitch of the goths at Asty’s
high school. She sang and played the keyboard in a band that got quite popular
locally and once even won a competition held by a European goth fashion brand,
which funded Lilly’s month-long stay in London. All Lilly had to do in return
was model a few outfits for the website. Asty bought from them from time to
time and begrudgingly looked at Lilly’s face every time she browsed through
older items. It was almost as if Lilly got everything on a plate. The cool
older guys chased her because
she
didn’t have the president of a
motorcycle club as a father. Lilly never failed to mention Asty’s father to
strangers whenever they went out together, and she always gave her stupid
advice. Once, she even mailed Asty an ad about body hair because  “she heard
that Italian girls might have an issue with that.” What a cow. Beneath that
beautiful face and model-worthy body hid a serpent ready to poison anyone who
stood in her way. No matter how many times Asty had cursed Lilly nothing seemed
to work. She must have had powerful demonic protection, which only made sense
with all the havoc she’d wreaked.

“Hey, Lilly,” Asty mumbled and let go of
Hunter’s hand, because her own was getting sweaty.

“It’s so great to see that you’re still
sticking to your personal style.” Lilly smiled widely and pulled out her phone.
“We have to catch up, but I’m so busy in L.A., I barely ever visit Detroit
anymore. I only came back for Christmas. What about you? Did you ever go back
to high school?”

Asty gritted her teeth and shook her head,
even though she knew Lilly would judge her for it. And if she were still in
touch with their former schoolmates, she’d probably gossip about it too. “I own
a small business. I’m a stylist for photo shoots,” she said, even though it
wasn’t that grand and the business itself was dead at this point. She didn’t
want Hunter to think she was a loser. Did he check out Lilly? She was afraid to
look his way and see for herself. “How’s college? I heard the tuition has grown
again.” Well, at least
she
was free of debt.

Lilly waved her hand dismissively. “Oh,
it’s fine, I got a grant for my clothing line to cover the fees. Who’s your
friend? Your dad better not find out about him.” She winked at Hunter. “Unless
you like the danger thrill of dating a biker’s daughter? I’m Lilly.” She held
out her hand to him, and he shook it without much enthusiasm.

“Hunter,” he said in a low voice that sent
a shiver down Asty’s spine. “And no, I’m not scared of her dad, since I’m a
biker myself. Oh, and I’m her boyfriend.”

Lilly stepped back but didn’t lose her
fake-ass smile. “Oh, so your dad finally gave his blessing? I’m so happy for
you Astaroth! Looks like taking off braces really does work wonders.”

Asty held back a scowl and took hold of
Hunter’s hand again. She turned back to him and nuzzled his nose, breathing
hard. Why couldn’t Lilly just go? They hadn’t been true friends in the first
place, so what was she getting out of taunting her now? At least Asty had
Hunter to rub in Lilly’s face.

“You two look just so precious together.
Looks like anyone can find
someone
to like them the way they are
,”
Lilly said, and before Asty knew it, Lilly snapped a photo of her cuddling up
to Hunter.

Asty growled. “What are you doing? I don’t
want any pictures taken. Delete it.”

“You do know who Astaroth is, right?”
Hunter frowned at Lilly, and Asty’s heart fluttered. “Her father isn’t just ‘a
biker.’ He is the president of one of the biggest clubs in the world. She’s not
‘anyone.’ But if you’re so hot and bothered over her hanging out with bikers, I
can hook you up with some of our California brothers. You do know there’s a
chapter in L.A., right?”

Asty’s body grew hot, and she pushed back
into Hunter, squeezing his hand. He was actually defending her. The look on
Lilly’s face was priceless, as if her brain had encountered an error and
blue-screened. It took her a few seconds to recuperate and mask her discomfort
with a broken laugh. “I’ll pass, but that’s very generous. Well, I won’t be
disturbing you anymore. I’m meeting someone,” she tweeted and rushed to the
door without waiting for an answer.

Asty shook her head. “Wow.”

Hunter scowled. “What a mean fucking bitch.
In terms of the biker world, you’re a freaking princess.”

Asty sighed and looked back at him before
returning to her food. The end of this encounter piqued her appetite. “It
didn’t really feel like that back in school. No one wants to date someone who
could get them beat up.”

Hunter pulled her closer with his arm over
her shoulder. “Good. More for me.” He left a quick kiss on her neck. “I like
the danger. Turns me on.”

Asty’s mouth twitched, and she couldn’t
keep from smiling at least a little bit. “That’s hot.”

“Eat up, you’ll need the calories later
tonight …”

Asty leaned in and caught his lips in a
kiss, making sure he could sense her breasts against him. But when their eyes
met, she realized she hadn’t yet mentioned the thing she wanted to talk about.
She needed to be honest with him. He was too good of a guy to be hung up on a
girl who was slowly marching to her grave. It made her sad to think of what was
to happen in less than nine months, but there was no way around it. She needed
to be realistic. “So ... what you told Lilly. That we’re together,” she
whispered.

Hunter smirked. “Your sentence is not a
question.”

Asty bit on her bottom lip and pulled back.
“I wanted to talk about this.” She took a deep breath, looking at her lovely crêpes,
which had barely been touched. “And I don’t think this is what I’m looking for
right now.”

Hunter raised his eyebrows. “Oh. So what?
You lost your virginity last month, and now you wanna play the field all of a
sudden?”

Asty shrugged, trying to think of a way not
to make him feel bad. “It’s not like that. I just don’t want ... you know ...
the commitment.”

Hunter stabbed his artisan lemon tart with
a fork. “Fine.”

She cleared her throat. “We can still have
fun from time to time. It’s just too early for me.”

Hunter shrugged and pulled his arm back.
“Works for me.”

Asty curled her shoulders, suddenly wanting
to be anywhere but at Hunter’s side. That gesture felt like the most painful of
rejections, as if he didn’t even want to touch her anymore.

She swallowed the rock that suddenly grew
in her throat and followed it with a few big gulps of coffee. She hoped he’d
drive her home soon.

Asty

Despite the relationship talk going
slightly sour, Asty was surprised that the day after, Hunter still paid her a
visit. They texted, hung out, and couldn’t get their hands off each other
whenever possible. Not comfortable with sex in her house, where Dad could come
back at any time, they did it in his van, in the garage close to the club, in a
park, and three abandoned buildings. A part of Asty was trying to block the
whole flood of emotions toward Hunter, but another part of her wanted to
indulge in them and enjoy every second she had with him. Something to cherish
before the final ritual. It was only typical that this happened once she was
set to die.

The Astaroth seal on her belly wasn’t
making things easier on her. It didn’t hurt much anymore, but she didn’t want
Hunter to see it and freak out, which meant she had to keep at least some of
her clothes on when they fooled around. Not to mention that her breasts were
getting very sensitive to touch, and she didn’t want them handled as much as
Hunter probably would like to. He went with it all, even though a few times he
mentioned he wouldn’t mind seeing all of her again. Well, tough luck.

They stood apart during Beast’s burial, but
even so, she couldn’t help but feel like everyone knew. There was electricity
buzzing between their bodies whenever they were close, and recently Lucky even
asked her what had made her so perky lately. She was freaked out, but he didn’t
try to question her any further. Still, whenever she looked at Hunter, her body
immediately wanted to be close to him. She thought about him in the strangest
moments and didn’t want to break it up just because. She’d still do her duty
and finish the ritual, but until then, she was surely allowed to enjoy his
company and all the pleasures Earth had to offer.

Asty was sickened to discover that the
autopsy, which she had requested, revealed that Beast had been intentionally
poisoned. Everyone was enraged, but there was no way to point fingers at
anyone, and forensics wouldn’t investigate the passing of an old buck, no
matter how beloved he was. It was depressing, but Asty recognized Beast had
been slowly getting older. His life had been very pleasant, with many people
playing with him, away from the harm he had experienced in his early years.
Tooth told her so, and he was right. That thought gave Asty at least a bit of
peace of mind.

Hunter kept stealing glances at her, but
Ray stood right next to him and did so as well. Seeing Ray in bright daylight
brought back memories of that fateful night when she got pregnant, and there
was no escaping the thought that Ray had as much of a chance to be the father of
Asty’s child as Hunter. She didn’t have much contact with the guy, but every
time she did see him, his gaze was devouring her alive. In some sense, this was
good, because what needed to be done, needed to be done. She needed to ingest
Ray’s sperm whether she liked it or not. She still hadn’t had a chance to suck
Hunter, as they always ended up straight up fucking, but that would be
pleasure.
This
was business.

She was glad all the bikers came despite
the snow gently falling all over the pet cemetery. Asty knew some of them
secretly thought it was silly to organize a burial for an animal and invite
people to it, but she didn’t care. It was their decision to come here ...
unless Dad and Tooth had pressured them to. Regardless, she was glad for the
company. Following the short ceremony with a remembrance video shown on a
laptop and a speech by Lucky, who explained that talking to Beast made him feel
better when he was down, everyone was slowly dispersing. The men and their
girlfriends were still talking where they gathered by the cemetery wall, but
they gave her some space to think.

Asty walked down one of the alleyways,
admiring magnificent statues of horses on some of the tombs, when someone
grabbed her arm and pulled her into a narrow path between two slabs of
concrete. Before she could yelp, Ray put a hand over her mouth.

She breathed in the scent of his palm,
staring up into his narrowed eyes. She wanted to eventually speak to him, but
why now? What gave him the right to touch her? Her heart sped up.

“Hey. You’ve been avoiding me.” When Ray
grinned, his gold tooth glimmered in the faint December light.

Asty frowned at him, already in a worse
mood, but she felt safe with her Dad and the others at shouting distance.

He let go of her mouth but instantly pushed
her back against the cold tomb of someone’s horse. It was a big one too with a
bad sculpture of a girl on the back of the animal. “You having fun with Hunter?
You think he’s fucking better than me or something?”

Asty was speechless, and her chest seemed
so suck itself in, creating a vacuum. Her brain throbbed at the betrayal. “He
told you.”

Ray squinted, and his grip on Asty’s
shoulder got tighter. “Of course, he told me. He’s my cousin. You open up your
legs to him, but not to me? We both fucked you well. I bet you want some fun
with me too.”

She stiffened, shaken by yet another blow.
There she was thinking Hunter really did like her and that maybe she could enjoy
his company, at least until the bump started to show, but this? She couldn’t
take that. “You weren’t all that good.”

“I could give you a repeat so you realize
your memory’s a bit fuzzy.” Ray pushed against her, and she flushed when she
realized he had a hard-on already.

“We just buried my friend. Is that exciting
to you?” she asked and looked back to see her friends and family, but the huge
tomb was obscuring them from view.

“Maybe. Wouldn’t you like that? Being all
morbid and shit? A quick suck in a pet cemetery. Should be perfect for you.”
Ray grinned and rubbed his bulky body against her, all hot despite the snow.

Asty pressed her lips together, wanting
nothing more than to separate his balls from him, but that would be beating the
point. She needed his sperm. Hunter had been laughing behind her back and
telling Ray about everything they did. She might as well get it over with now.
He wouldn’t want it to last long with everyone so close.

She slowly sank into a crouch in front of
him, though even looking at the front of his pants made her queasy. He had a
perfectly normal cock. His personality was revolting.

“Fuck yes,” he hissed.

She guessed that with all the “charming” he
had been doing, he wasn’t sure she’d go for it. Rightly so. If it weren’t for
fulfilling the ritual, she wouldn’t.

Ray unzipped his pants and his rock hard
cock bounced out into the cool air. She didn’t waste her time. Waiting wouldn’t
do her any good now, and so she grabbed it at the base and took the head into
her mouth, trying not to breathe. There was nothing even akin to arousing about
this, so she covered all her bases and put the other hand against his hips,
just so she could stop him if he got overly eager. There was a salty taste to
the smooth head that fit so strangely into her mouth. She bobbed her head,
trying not to think about it. It was just like practicing on a dildo, just this
time it wasn’t her green cyberskin favorite. This one would actually spit cum
in her mouth, and worse yet, it had an appendix with an overgrown ego.

“Oh, yesss, suck it fast, you little slut
with two tongues,” Ray hissed and slid his hand into her hair. “Like it’s
fucking Satan’s cock.” He rumbled with hoarse laughter, and she wanted to puke
a little, not swallow any of his seed. But the better she was, the quicker he’d
finish, and once that happened, she’d never have to touch him again. Maybe she
should tell Tooth something about what happened here. He could make Ray
disappear from her life, she was sure of it, and he wouldn’t tell Dad if she
asked him not to. Just thinking about it made the whole thing just a bit more
bearable. Revenge would be bliss.

She took his cock in slightly deeper but
then suckled around the head, disliking how numb it made her cheeks feel. He
came so quickly that first time, how come he was lasting longer now? Or maybe
that was only her imagination?

She whimpered when he grabbed her hair with
both hands, pulling so much it hurt. “Swallow it, you cunt. So good.” He
groaned, and moments later, he released his cum, making Asty cringe at the
bitter taste.

She tried to fight her sense of smell and
swallowed, but right after, her throat tightened, and she heaved slightly,
pushing him away. “Go, before someone sees us together,” she muttered, leaning
back against the tomb. She clenched her hands into fists, desperately trying to
keep his cum down. Her body clearly didn’t want it.

Ray hesitated, still heaving, with his
softening cock out, but he nodded and tucked his dick back into his pants. He
smiled at her like a master proud of his dog’s performance. “We’ll be in
touch,” he said and quickly walked off.

No, we won’t
,
Asty wanted to say, but the words died on her lips, and she frantically pulled
out a bottle of soda out of her bag. It was maybe a cup’s worth of liquid, but
she gulped it all down. Still, even though nausea was slowly passing, she
couldn’t lose the sense of his cock still being present on her tongue and his
hands on her head. She was disgusted with herself that she
served
such a
lowlife, and it made her want to stay here for the rest of the day and let the
snow slowly cover her.

Her body shuddered, and she leaned her
forehead on her knees, crouched against the tomb and still shocked by what had
just happened. One couldn’t bring people back to life without sacrifice, she
told herself as she got up after minutes that left her joints cold and stiff.

Numb, she stumbled against the stone and
looked out from behind it at the group of people far away. She could get Ray
killed if she only told them the truth. But her thoughts strayed the moment she
noticed Ray approach Hunter and talk to him about something. Probably about
what had just happened. She couldn’t fight the pain in her heart.

But Hunter waved his hand at Ray with a
smile and stayed behind when all the others went out the gates of the cemetery.

He lit a cigarette and adjusted his scarf,
looking around before writing something on his phone.

Asty’s phone beeped, and tears pushed into her
eyes before she even picked it up. Did he want to have a go too? He might as
well. She’d be done with them both.

The text from Hunter read,
“Hey babe.
Where are you? Do you need some more time?”
And now he was playing dumb and
pretending he didn’t know what was going on. They both thought she was stupid.
She could play that part, even with wetness clouding her vision.

“I will stay here for a while. Better go
home.”

“Sure, take your time. But call me if
you need company, okay?”

“Ok.”

Asty broke into a sob and covered her eyes,
clutching the phone to her chest. Her life was being turned into a joke, and
the perspective of death suddenly felt too far out of her grasp. Why couldn’t
the final ritual happen now when she felt so deeply unhappy?

“Please, don’t take anyone else,” she
whispered to no one in particular. Death was so thick around her she could
hardly breathe.