Page 6 of The Sentinels

"You forget that I don't belong to any of those men." I tried not to think about Ace and what we were doing.

Silence followed, silence so loud that I opened my eyes and peered at the girls to find all of their eyes fixed on me. There expressions reflected a mixture of surprise and confusion.

"You're kidding us, right?" Cookie asked seriously.

I shook my head. "No, I'm not. What made you think that I was?"

"Well for one thing, you disappear with Ace behind the bar several nights a week. Don’t try to convince us that you’re polishing his boots,” she laughed.

God, they actually knew how many times a week I gave Ace a blowjob? I felt my face heat up at Della's statement. "That doesn't mean anything." I fake smiled, hoping no one called me on it. "Maybe we're talking."

Giggles erupted. "Honey, the way Ace looks when he comes back inside, you ain't been talking," Ruby quipped. "Not with the look of flushed satisfaction on his face."

"I'd say you've been doing something else with your mouth," Cookie joked boldly.

"Ya'll are just guessing—"

"The truth," Judith insisted, sipping at her sparkling water.

I released a resigned sigh. What did it matter anyway? For all I knew, their men all gossiped like little old ladies and they already knew the truth. "We have a kind of unusual arrangement, but it doesn't mean anything. You all know Ace and his as anti-relationship rule."

"Huh," Lonnie started. "Seems that all our men started out that way. Their motto is, ‘hit it and quit it.’"

"She's right," Judith backed her up. "When I first met Mark he was quick to point out that he had one rule when it came to women--he never did them more than once. Said it kept life simple, and he didn't have to worry about a woman getting the wrong idea."

Nods revealed that they all felt the same way.

"Sid was the same way," Lonnie said.

"So was Rod," Cookie smiled. “But he never stood a chance.”

"Tanner was the worst," Ruby chimed in. "He was so determined to ignore me in the beginning. Once he gave into his one-time only rule, it went right out the window. Then he tried to convince me that he'd only broken it because he knew that I was leaving town."

"The fact that you and Ace have been doing whatever it is you're doing for months now is a big deal."

Della's comment made me feel sad inside, and a little embarrassed about what I had been doing with Ace. "You're all so wrong," I said softly, holding their gazes. "I've never had sex with Ace."

Ruby's mouth fell open. "But we all know that when one of the Sentinels drags a woman out back that they’re screwing her. And he hasn't taken anyone but you out there in a long time."

I reached for a grape. "That's what I thought, too, but he hasn't screwed me." It was one of the reasons I'd let him lead me out back that first time. I'd thought I was finally going to know what it felt like to be fucked by the hard biker. "I just give him a blowjob and that's the end of it."

"What?!" Lonnie shouted, drawing the attention of some of the workers who were mingling with other clients across the room.

"What a selfish jerk!" Cookie scowled.

"And you're okay with that?"

I met Ruby's frown. "Of course not. Well, I mean, I was in the beginning because I was hoping that it would lead to something else."

"Screwing?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I mean, I've heard stories—"

Della giggled. "Yeah, we've heard the same stories. Heard the man is hung like a freaking horse, but I've got no complaints about Skipper's size." She actually blushed.

"I can't believe that Ace would use a woman like that."

"It takes two," I said in response to Judith's murmur. "I'm not proud that I let him use me that way. It's obvious after all this time that he's never going to feel anything for me." Damn, I felt tears burning in my eyes. "If a man doesn't think enough of you to touch you . . ." I couldn't go on.

---