Lisa Ch. 07b: Jessica

The general consensus was that Jessica would be back to normal after what had been promised her was delivered.

One promise was Josh publishing his comic book. He'd submitted it weeks before but not told anyone. Expecting an answer any day, Josh took Jessica with him to the post office. He parked in front of the building.

"Be right back." Josh said and closed his door.

Another was the race with Ebony. They just hadn't gotten around to rescheduling it. That morning Scott announced that it was rescheduled for two days from then, and Jessica had shown the expected joy about it.

Angus had decided to officially create a racing company. A company of two. He told Jessica he'd call it J and A for Jessica and Angus, and split the wins with her fifty-fifty. Jessica had been running trial heats, and doing really well. And to Jessica's joy but Angus' annoyance the woman who had approached Jessica earlier about racing, continued to do so. After a while Angus realized that this woman thought that having Jessica race for her would give Jessica a sense of girl power. Angus had experienced great satisfaction when he informed the woman that Jessica was part owner of the company and raced for herself. He was pretty sure he'd never seen a jaw hit the ground so hard before. But Angus hadn't booked her into a full race yet. He'd hesitated because even in the trials Jessica seemed almost too hungry for it. Ready to do anything to win. It had worried Angus at first but he finally concluded that Jessica was exhibiting signs of a great racer. So now, within a week, not only was Jessica going to race a horse, but a car too.

Jessica was excited about all the upcoming activities but even they couldn't wipe away the guilt she felt. Looking at the building that Josh had disappeared into she berated herself again. She was a bad, bad, wife. She was lying to her husbands. She contemplated what she could do about that. And it dawned on her that there was only one thing she could tell the men about. The bar, and what she did there. As far as the race went, she realized that they could never, never, know about it. They'd pick a fight with Paul and get themselves killed. Okay. Jessica felt better about that decision. Now she knew what she would and would not tell them. And the reason for not telling them about the race was good enough that Jessica could let the guilt about it go.

The bar though, she had to tell them about the bar and about Beth. But how? How would she tell them. Then she realized the only option she had was to go to the bar after the race. To go to the bar, text the men about where to find her and then just hope that what they saw would be enough to minimize the anger they'd feel toward her, and Jim. Jim. Crap. She'd have to get him to the bar too. It wasn't their normal night to go. Well, she'd text him too. It was the only way it would work. They had to see it with their own eyes, words wouldn't be enough. Suddenly Jessica realized that Josh was back. He slammed the door behind him and waved an envelope in front of her face.

"We did it ... We did it!" Josh said, excitement oozing from every pore.

"Did what?" "My comic! Penthouse is going to publish it!"

"What? What? Really?" Jessica asked grabbing the envelope from Josh's hands.

"Dear Mr. Smith, we are pleased to offer you a two year one hundred thousand dollar contract to publish a series of your comics ..."

"Mr. Smith?" Jessica asked looking up at Josh with a smile.

"Too much?" Josh asked. "It's not like my first name is John ..."

Jessica laughed and threw her arms around Josh.

"You did it, you did it, you did it!" she peppered him with kisses. "I knew you would! I'm so proud of you!"

"I only did it because of you. I can't believe it! You and I will split the money!"

"What? No. Josh, you wrote the comic, it's your money."

"I never would have if you hadn't pushed me to. So half is yours. No more arguing!"

"Okay ... okay ..." Jessica said with a laugh and kissed him some more.

"Hmmm." Josh said planting his hands on Jessica's head and holding it still for a long, tongue involved, kiss. "You know, I need some new material for my comics ... why don't we start working on it now ... in the back seat." He tilted his head to the back of the SUV.

"In front of the post office?" Jessica asked.

"Er, right. Okay, let's go find a back road somewhere."

"Okay." Jessica said, more than game. And they headed for the closest deserted road they could find.

After having sex for the better part of two hours, Jessica and Josh finally went to the comic store that they'd wanted to shop at earlier. Finally by dinner time they returned home. Josh opened the door for Jessica, and she walked through and froze. The lights were out, candles decorated the entire room, and all the men except for Josh stood looking at her, in tuxedos. Jessica's heart, knees, and conscience melted in successive order.

"You guys ..." she whispered. "You guys! Everything is so, beautiful. And you guys ... you're so handsome! And ... yummy." "I'm glad you think so." Angus said with a chuckle, moving to her and taking her hand, "But this is the romantic, no sex night we promised you ages ago. So yummy, while flattering, is not exactly what we were going for."

"Sex free?" Jessica squeaked.

"That's what the man said." Riley said, smiling a crooked and cruelly sexy smile.

Jessica turned to look at Josh who winked at her. He'd known it was going to be sex free but got his and her sex in. And Jessica was thankful that she'd gotten her rocks off because it would have been downright painful if she had to spend the night with the men looking like they were without any sexual release.

"Let's go get cleaned up." Josh said taking her by her elbow. "And you can put your fancy dress on, I'll squeeze into my tux."

"You knew ..." she whispered to Josh while they went down the hallway.

"Course I did. Why do you think I insisted on giving you all those orgasms, including the three in a row ... I mean other than the fact that I'm a considerate lover."

Jessica laughed. "Thanks Josh. I think I'd go crazy tonight otherwise."

Josh pecked her on the lips. "Glad to be of service ..."

Later that night, Jessica twirled on the living room floor with Scott. It had been a spectacular evening. She couldn't believe how special the men were making her feel. They treated her like a princess. They'd pulled chairs out for her, stood before she did, sat after she did, they were completely debonair.

"I love you Jess." Scott said, kissing her on the lips, pulling her tight against him, but continuing to circle the floor.

"I love you too Scott. A lot. More than anything."

"Thanks Jess, ditto for me."

"And um, if you thought that there was a chance that maybe you were going to be mad at me soon, for an indeterminate amount of time is there something in particular you'd want me to do for you?"

"Mad at you?" Scott asked holding her away from him so he could look down at her.

Jessica nodded. "Nothing serious. At least I don't think it'd be serious. But you know, maybe you won't want to look at me for a while ..."

"Jessica, what the hell are you babbling about?" Scott demanded. "I'm always going to want to look at you."

"Okay. Then, can we kiss for a while?" Jessica asked. "No sex, just kissing?"

"I'm game." Scott said and pulled her against him. Jessica melted against him and enjoyed Scott's tongue exploring her mouth. If he wasn't going to say what he wanted to do, Jessica decided to go with what she wanted.

By the time Riley cut in, Jessica was breathless.

"Hey you." Riley said pulling Jessica to him.

"Hey. Thanks for this evening. I love it." Jessica said.

"I'm glad."

"And, I'm sorry."

"For?"

"Um. For anything that I have ever done to hurt you. And anything that I may do in the future ... like in the next twenty four hours or so ..." Jessica added when Riley stared at her. "Never mind." Jessica said. "Can we kiss?"

"Are you sure you're okay?" Riley asked starting to look concerned.

"Great, great." Jessica said, panicking when Riley slowed the dance to a stop and looked at her. Jessica latched on to Riley's lips and melted against him. After a moment of hesitation, Riley began kissing her back. It didn't take long for Jessica to wish that they hadn't called off sex night.

"Hmmm, hmmm, hmmm." Jessica and Riley parted to find Angus standing next to them, clearing his throat. "I thought I'd wait for you to finish but you weren't coming up for air. So ... may I?" he asked Riley.

"Right ... thanks Jess." Riley gasped and went to get his glass of wine, downing it in one swig. "How are we going to sleep tonight?" he asked the others who were also drinking.

"I don't know, but after all the build-up we've been giving this, we better stick to our word." Jim said.

"Shit." Scott said, and watched Jessica melt against Angus.

"Jessica, can you accept that I just can't talk to you about ... her?" Angus asked. He'd debated bringing her up again but he felt like he had to.

"Sure Angus. Sure. And, um, I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"Nothing." Jessica said and then shrugged when Angus looked at her funny. "Everything? Just, tomorrow, promise you'll remember that I said sorry, okay?"

"Jessica ..."

"Can we kiss now?"

"Are you trying to distract me from some ..." Jessica covered his lips with hers and slid her tongue between them.

"My turn." Jim said after Jessica and Angus kissed for a good fifteen minutes.

Angus turned hoping Jessica didn't notice the bulge at the front of his pants.

"Okay, what's going on?" Jim asked pulling Jessica to him.

"What do you mean?"

"The guys are saying that you're apologizing to them for everything and nothing at the same time. Are you feeling that guilty about the bar thing?"

Jessica exhaled. "Yes. But I feel more guilty about Beth. Angus is going to be furious."

Jim nodded.

"And Jim, what if Angus and Beth breaking up was a mistake?"

Jim did a double take. "What are you talking about Jess?"

"Do you really think that Angus would have broken up with Beth if he'd known the truth?"

"Are you suggesting that Angus may want to go back to Beth when he learns the truth?"

Jessica nodded and dropped her head.

"Are you worried that Angus will leave you for Beth?" Jim demanded, lifting Jessica's chin so she'd look him in the eyes.

Jessica nodded.

"Have you been paying any attention at all to what Angus has been saying to you, and proving to you, over and over again over the past few months? Angus has completely changed ... for you. Not the kind of behavior usually exhibited by a man in love with someone else."

"But Jim, he's been operating under the wrong assumptions. He has no reason to hate Beth now. And ... I've known about this for almost two months now and haven't told him. What do you think he'll think of that?"

"Jess ..."

"And as much as I don't want to lose Angus, I want him to be happy Jim. But I'm scared that I won't be strong enough to do what's right. What if I make it harder on him?" Jessica asked, tears welling to her eyes.

"Jessica, listen to me ... Angus is a grown man. He can make his own decisions now, just like he could have then. He obviously didn't dig far enough into everything that happened. He just chose to take what he saw on face value and crucify Beth for it. But he has come a long way since then. He's a very different man. And he loves you. He may be upset at first, but he'll get over it. Trust me. And he'll still want you. Understand?" Jim asked, wiping the tears away with his thumbs.

Jessica nodded. Sniffling she leaned her face into Jim's chest. She considered apologizing to him in advance, for what was to come, like she had with the others but decided that she was a blubbering idiot at this point. And, given how involved he was in the bar and Beth fiasco, he of all people would have to understand what she did and why.

Instead she looked up at him.

"Can we kiss for a while too?"

"Thought you'd never ask." Jim said and set about making Jessica forget about why she was crying in the first place.

"May I?" Josh asked, tapping on Jim's shoulder.

"Already?" Jim asked.

"It's been half an hour."

"Oh, sorry. Thanks Jess." Jim said, kissing her forehead and switching off with Josh.

"Don't tell me that you expect me to be mad at you too." Josh said after looking at her for a moment or two.

"Um, well, maybe."

"Care to tell me what I'm supposed to be mad at you about?"

"Well, I guess there are several possibilities."

"Seriously Jess? Me? The bastard rapist. Mad at you the sweetest, kindest, most loving person I've ever met?"

"We'll talk again tomorrow." Jessica said, giggling despite herself. "But for now ... kiss me?"

"About time ..." Josh said and devoured her mouth.

Another hour later and the candles were half burnt. The wine was almost all gone, and Angus and Josh had begun to set their bed up on the floor.

"Good night sweetheart." Scott said when Jessica emerged from the bathroom, her beautiful dress, gone, now clad in comfortable pajamas. Jessica climbed in under the blanket.

"We'll be with you in a minute." Riley said, "Just need to change." And the men disappeared down the hallway.

Jessica snuggled down under the blanket and in moments was fast asleep. The men returned and arranged themselves around her.

"We can have sex in the morning, right?" Angus muttered.

"Right." Riley agreed and soon they'd all passed out.

But the night wasn't a good one. Jessica kept having nightmares that the men were furious with her. That Angus accused her of lying about Beth so Jessica could keep him to herself. Jessica was devastated. She cried, and begged for forgiveness. She tried to explain things but they wouldn't listen.

Jessica awoke exhausted. And she found the men already awake, watching her.

"You were having nightmares Jess." Josh said and his tone and the haunted look on his face made it clear to Jessica that they thought they were the same dreams she'd had when they'd kidnapped her.

"Oh no. They weren't those kinds of dreams." Jessica said quickly, sitting up. "Honest ... they weren't."

"You were crying Jess. And begging for forgiveness. And you kept saying please over and over again." Angus said.

Jessica nodded.

"They were just bad dreams." Jessica said, running her hand lightly on Angus' bandaged arm. Angus looked down at his arm.

"Were the dogs in them? Attacking you?"

"No." Jessica said, "But it was kind of that idea. Sorry if I kept you up all night."

"Not all night." Riley said, sliding his hand under the blanket and finding one of her breasts. "Do you think some morning sex might help you feel better?"

"Oh yeah." Jessica said and smiled. But Jim, Scott, Angus and Josh still looked at her with concern. "Really, it will help. I'm sure being sexually frustrated didn't help me sleep better ..." she added.

"Okay." Jim said, reaching for her other breast, "But just remember the sacrifices that we're willing to make to help you out."

"Okay, I'll try." Jessica giggled as Josh stuck his head under the blanket and worked his way up Jessica's thighs.

The morning went by quickly. Great sex, a hard work out. Jessica put her everything into the fighting and felt the satisfied exhaustion of her muscles. She pushed thoughts of what was to come out of her mind as she got ready for the girls to come and get her. She just kept reminding herself... when her thoughts slipped in, that the men would never know about the race. That was the important thing.

"Are you sure you don't want to take the SUV?" Riley asked, obviously surprised when Leah said they'd take her car.

"No, we're good Riley, really, thanks. See you later."

Jessica kissed the men good bye and got in the car, breathing a sigh of relief when they were finally on the road. "Everything that you need is in the trunk." Sara said. "The helmet. Your race suit. You can put it on before we get to the track."

Leah snapped her phone shut. "Corey is about to call the guys to tell them about the competition. He was waiting to hear that you'd left ... just in case they get overly cautious. You may want to turn your phone off." She said to Jessica. At just that moment it rang. Jessica looked at the call display ... it was Jim. Jessica pressed the power button.

"Thanks." Jessica said.

"No. Thank you." Amanda said, "For doing this for the clan. No one wants another blood bath ..." her voice trailed off.

"No biggy." Jessica said, "This will be a cake walk. Really. It's just real important that the men don't find out. I'm afraid that may lead to a blood bath."

"Gotcha." Leah said. "They'll never know."

Jessica nodded and relaxed into the car seat.

A few miles from the track, Leah pulled over and Jessica dressed. She got back in the car, even putting her helmet on. She couldn't take any chances on being recognized.

Half an hour later Jessica was at the track, meeting the team. Leah and the girls stayed down at the garage, to avoid being seen also. But they could see the track from the garage door.

"Hey Jessica. It's good to have you on board." Kurt said. "Guys, this is Jessica. She'll take point."

"What the hell? Some chick?" A black haired, pock faced man said. "No fucking way."

"Fucking way." Kurt said. "Paul has made her the lead, and you'll listen to her."

"Forget it." Jessica said to Kurt. 'We don't need him. He can get himself killed if he wants to ... but the rest of us need to ride loose but in formation. Everyone has to have someone to guard."

Jessica looked at the remaining men, the black hair man shaking his head but not leaving.

"This is what I suggest we do." Jessica said moving to the blackboard and picking up a piece of chalk.

"God damn it, her phone's off." Jim said again, snapping his phone shut in anger and almost hurling it to the ground.

Angus, Riley, and Scott also closed their phones.

"The others aren't answering either?" Jim asked. The men shook their heads.

"Well, they went shopping. They probably turned off their phones on purpose." Josh said.

"I can't believe this shit." Riley said looking over the track. He finally dropped onto the bench. "Thank God Jessica isn't here. Can you imagine if they decided they wanted her riding in this bullshit competition?"

"It's kind of weird though, don't you think?" Josh asked. "The day we see Kurt at the track he mentions wanting her to ride to beat Anthony's riders, and all of a sudden the territory competition is a motor bike race? Seems off."

"Yeah. Seems Paul' sister didn't want her brother killing her husband and her husband killing her brother." Angus said.

"Speaking of which." Jim said, nodding at some seats closer to the track. The men looked down and saw the back of a man that they recognized as Anthony, sitting ramrod straight in the stands. Next to him was a slight figure. A woman. And she was holding his arm. And then to her left, sat Paul. And the woman was clutching his arm too.

"Great. We get to stare at them all afternoon." Scott grumbled.

"You do realize that if we off them both, right now. We'd save us all a lot of time." Angus said.

"As tempting as that is." Riley said, "We're trying to simplify our lives, not complicate them. Let's just hope this goes the right way, and we can go home and fuck Jessica without so much as a second thought."

"And if it doesn't go the right way?" Angus asked.

"We brought our guns, didn't we? But I doubt anything will happen here. Anthony won't make a play here, now. Just like Paul won't. It'll come later." Riley said.

"Hey." Corey said, sitting down next to Scott.

"Hey." Scott said, and nodded at Sean who sat on the other side of Corey. Both raised binoculars to their eyes. Suddenly a cheer went up as the riders came out.