Reaper's Claim: The Finale

Reaper

The bedroom was bathed in a soft, velvety light, the color of fresh lemons.

I was the first one awake, which was a rarity.

Abby was usually the early bird. She was also the night owl. Between the two of us, I was the one with the regular sleep schedule.

Her breathing was soft and rhythmic, the kind that comes with deep sleep.

That was good.

It had been a long year, filled with changes. Maybe too many changes.

But when the morning light dusted her freckled skin or highlighted her long, fine lashes, all I wanted to do was run my hands through her soft hair.

She’d let it grow back to its natural honey-blond. It would eventually bleach out under the hot outback sun. For now, she kept it short. So short, I had to use the number two clippers when she asked me to shave it for her.

It wasn’t my favorite look, but she said it kept her hair out of her sights. If it made Abby happy, it made me and the rest of the biker gang happy.

I’d do anything for my VP of Satan’s Sons.

Anything.

Except… maybe let her sleep in.

Abby was wearing a pair of black lace panties and my favorite muscle tank. One of her pink nipples had slipped out, teasing me. I reached out, cupping her breast, gently massaging it with my thumb. I kissed and nibbled at her neck.

She squirmed and turned away from me, pressing her hips into my groin. My cock, already half-hard from the sight of her, went full mast. Her breathing changed, and she reached back, running a hand through my hair.

I noticed her forearm was smudged with dry paint.

Ah, that’s why she was up so late. She’d been painting.

Good.

Well, this could be her reward.

I pulled her closer, and Abby hooked a leg over mine, linking us. She rubbed herself along my shaft. The softness of her panties against my cock was incredible, but as her panties soaked through with her wetness, I lost control. Reaching down, I hooked a finger through a strap and tugged Abby free of the barrier between us.

She moaned, and I slipped into her tight pussy.

Warm and snug, she moved against me, making my heart pound in my chest. Or was it her heartbeat? Our rhythm was easy and sweet. Kissing the length of her neck, I reached through the wide gaps of the tank and squeezed her silky breasts.

We moved faster. Abby arched, her spine curving as she pushed herself back against me while I thrust forward. The sounds she was making drove me on, like the roar of an engine on the open road.

How lucky was I to wake up to this beautiful sight every morning?

To feel this alive?

We moved faster, but it wasn’t enough. I needed to hear her scream my name. I pulled out slowly, almost to the tip, and Abby groaned in displeasure.

“Don’t. You. Dare stop now,” she panted.

I laughed and pushed back in even slower.

“Kade,” Abby huffed. “Please—”

I swiveled my hips, filling every inch of her. But I wanted to hear my name one more time. I brushed my lips along the back of her neck and rocked back and forth, watching her spine arch again.

“God, Kade—” Abby gasped, and I pulled her closer, merging us into one. I pumped faster as she continued to call out my name. “Kade! Kade! KADE!”

We climaxed together, breathless with pleasure and release.

We stayed like that a moment longer, basking in the afterglow.

Then Abby got up, slipping out of my grasp.

I let her go, but not without a pang of regret.

That was the thing with Abby. The tighter you held on, the harder she fought to leave, no matter how much she or I wanted her to stay.

I watched as she rummaged through the dresser until she found the compact she was looking for. Abby popped a contraceptive pill out of the blister pack and into her mouth.

She caught my stare in the mirror while sipping from her water bottle.

“Don’t look at me like that,” she scolded.

It was hard not to.

Her body. Her choice.

But it still stung.

Because it was my choice too… wasn’t it?

She’d done something like this once before when she had an abortion and blamed it on a miscarriage. I knew about the pregnancy, and while the idea of a child was scary, deep down, it was also exciting.

“Come on, Kade.” Abby headed to the restroom. The squeak and sound of running water followed her. She poked her head out again. “We got a raid to plan, remember? The sooner we finish this, the better.”

* * *

There are three things that get my heart racing: The purr and steady rumble of an engine under my hands. The sight of my naked wife. And the start of a raid. Not necessarily in that order.

I had already experienced the first two today, and the third? Well, that was about to kick off. The hour was late, the night thick with anticipation. The crew Abby and I had assembled for tonight’s operation was small but skilled. Good with bikes and even better with guns.

They would need to be when going up against HellBound.

We’d heard through the grapevine that Blake's biker gang would be moving some cargo through Avoca, which was just plain stupid. Avoca, like Snake Valley, was Satan’s Sons’ territory.

Our territory.

And as if that wasn’t bad enough, these idiots weren’t moving guns or drugs. No. They were moving people.

And that’s something we couldn’t stand for.

We had to ditch our bikes on the Pyrenees Highway, a couple of miles from the Avoca Reserve campground. The place was remote, and we didn’t want the roar of our engines to give us away. So, we trekked through the bush and wattle trees of the reserve. The high canopies were a blessing during the day, but at night, they were a curse, casting us and our crew of twenty bikers into darkness.

“How much further?” Abby whispered from my right.

Her eyes sparkled in the dark, fueled by the anticipation of finally capturing her greatest prey: Blake Campbell, the leader of HellBound.

I glanced at the GPS on my tactical watch.

“We’re close,” I whispered back.

Then we heard it—the loud, thumping bass of terrible music.

Good. If they were busy partying, they wouldn’t see us coming.

“Who blasts music that loud when they’re on a job?” Ox grumbled. It was a valid question, considering Ox was the strongest guy in Satan’s Sons, but not the sharpest.

“Only an idiot,” Abby answered.

“Bloody idiots,” Ox agreed. “Giving away their location thinking it’s safe just ‘cus they're out in the forest reserve.”

Abby looked up at me.

Even in the dark, her skin seemed to glow, and I had the urge to touch it. I could’ve ripped off her shorts right then and there and fucked her under a canopy of leaves and stars.

“Alright, this is where I leave you.” Abby’s voice snapped me back to reality. “Text me when you’re ready.”

“But there’s no signal out here,” I protested. “Even the coordinates on my tac watch were a guess at best once we entered the tree line.”

“I’m not worried. You’ll figure something out,” she said, winking at me. “You always do.”

Then she disappeared into the darkness with her rifle.

I signaled to the rest of the crew, and we moved again. The trees began to thin out, revealing the camp's main rec hall. It was a large, single-story building with lots of windows and three exits. Patches of dim light seeped out through the broken glass like a gapped-toothed grin. The weathered siding vibrated with the bass.

I sent a few men around the back to the kitchen exit. Another group to the main doors and the rest scattered, crouching under windows with weapons drawn and ready.

Ox and I silently made our way toward the side entrance, leaving only puffs of dust in our wake.

I peeked through the dirt-smeared glass of the side door. Inside the main hall was a mix of HellBound and Stonefish pledges. No one was on watch. Everyone was either drinking or snorting something. The air was thick with the haze of nicotine and sickly sweet vape. In the far corner of the main hall, I spotted a small group of girls.

None of them could’ve been older than fourteen. All of them were bound at the wrist with zip ties and gagged with duct tape.

What the fuck was Blake into?

I looked away, gripping my shotgun so tight the stock creaked under the pressure.

“Boss?” Ox asked. “What do ya wanna do? We can’t just go in guns blazing. Not now.”

“I know—” That’s when I noticed the large powerline leading towards the generator, and an idea formed in my head. Abby needed a signal, right? Well, I just found it.

I pointed out the cord to Ox. “See the generator?”

He nodded.

“Follow it, cut it on the count of three, then we toss in the flash-bangs. Wait for them to run out and take them down.”

Ox relayed the orders to the rest of the crew and was about to take off but suddenly stopped.

“What?” I asked.

“Reaper, do you think Blake is in there?” Ox whispered.

“No,” I answered bluntly.

Ox did a double take.

“Do you think Abby would’ve come otherwise?” I asked.

“No.” Ox shook his head. “She’s gonna be so pissed.”

“And that’s different from when?”

Ox snorted. “Never.”

“Exactly.”

Ox made it to the generator, ready to cut the power. I held up one finger to start the countdown. Then two. But I never made it to three.

“Hey, boys,” Abby’s voice echoed through the hall. “Is this where the party’s at?”

I peeked inside, and my stomach churned with what I saw. Abby was hanging on the swinging saloon doors between the kitchen and main hall where all the HellBound guys were drinking. They stared at her, suspicion in their eyes.

Then one brave (or stupid) guy stood up. “Who are you?”

“Karma,” Abby answered, then pulled out her sidearm and shot him right between the eyes.

“Shut it down!” I shouted, but it felt like I was moving in slow motion.

I kicked in the door, but not before Abby shot two more HellBound Bikers. One in the chest and another in the neck. Blood splattered and spewed over the screaming girls.

Finally, the hum of electricity and the thumping music cut out, plunging everyone into darkness. The girls screamed louder. Glass shattered, followed by the light of muzzle fire.

“Protect the girls!” I ordered as I ran towards Abby, tackling her to the ground. We rolled, and I scrambled to drag her behind the saloon doors, landing in the kitchen.

I heard tables slam on the ground as they were flipped over to serve as shields.

“What the fuck, Reaper?” Abby yelled, twisting away from my grip. “I had it covered.”

“You were supposed to wait for the signal.”

“You took too long,” she argued. “What if Blake got away?”

“Blake?” I repeated. “Did you see him?”

Abby didn’t answer me.

“I swear, Abby.” I stared at her, even if I couldn’t see her in this bloody darkness. “You will be the death of me, woman.”

As my eyes grew accustomed to the darkness, she sent a kiss and a wink my way, slipping her handgun between the saloon doors for a blind shot.

“No.” I knocked the gun aside, pushing her down onto the floor. “You could hit the girls.”

Abby’s jaw tightened as if she was holding back a sharp retort. But she swallowed it, her chest rising and falling with the effort.

“What do you expect me to do?” she asked instead. “Politely request they drop their guns?”

“Wait.” I pressed a kiss to her forehead, causing her to shudder with anger. “Just wait.”

Then I let out a high, short whistle.

Flashbangs landed on the floor with dull, heavy thuds, filling the hall with hazy bursts of smoke. Everyone started coughing, their throats rasping, and even my eyes began to water.

Abby ripped at her shirt, using the fabric as a makeshift mask. I gave her an approving wink, even as she scowled in annoyance. She was eager to move, but I would sit on her if that’s what it took to make her wait.

“Out!” a HellBound man managed to choke out. “Everyone out!”

“That’s our cue.” I took Abby’s hand, leading her out of the kitchen. But as we stepped through the door, we were met with guns aimed at our chests.

“Whoa,” Ox commanded. “That’s Reaper and Abby. Lower your weapons.”

They did, and as soon as we were clear, Abby yanked her hand out of mine.

“You bastard,” Abby hissed. “You knew Blake wasn’t here.”

I didn’t respond to her anger. I needed to check on my men and the girls. Looking around the rec hall, I could see my plan had worked.

“Reaper,” Abby shouted my name. “You lied to me. Do you even care about Blake? Does Kim mean nothing to you?”

At that, I spun around.

“Don’t use Kim like that,” I snapped. “She deserves better than to be a pawn in your revenge plot.”

That silenced her.

“You should be happy.” I sighed, rubbing the bridge of my nose. “We just saved all these girls from sex trafficking. None of our crew got seriously injured. This is a victory. Why are you acting like you lost?”

Abby’s lip quivered.

“Because I did,” Abby said, her voice shaky. I couldn’t tell if it was from sadness or anger. Maybe it was both. “And I will every day until I find Blake and give him the ending he deserves.”

With that, she turned on her heel and stormed away from me.

“I was right,” Ox said from behind me. “She’s pissed.”

I watched her beautiful figure disappear into the tree line.

“And when is that different?” I asked gruffly.

“Never,” we both said at the same time.