Red Jack let out a shaky breath. Bastards. He grabbed the sides of Loki’s face and wouldn’t even blink. “I. Would. Never. Do that. I promise. I’m no Mr. Right, but this sick shit is not something I’d do.”
Loki bit his lip. He covered Red Jack’s hands with his own, gently petting them with his fingers. His eyes shone like twin black pearls. How could anyone do all those horrible things to someone like Loki?
“To me, you are perfect,” whispered Loki.
His toes curled in Red Jack’s boots, and he was happy no one would see that. He wanted to turn off the light and fuck Loki here and now, show him just how perfect he was, but it was too close to midnight, too close to other people, too risky. He settled for a kiss as hungry as Red Jack was for Mozer’s blood. Loki’s mouth opened up to him, warm and slick and wonderful as their bodies clashed together with an urgency that used to be a tiny flicker in the depths of Red Jack’s mind. He wanted to hold Loki tight, keep him safe, fuck him hard. All those thoughts melted as their tongues moved together in Loki’s mouth, all sounds muted by the furious beating of Red Jack’s heart.
He had never kissed a man before he kissed Loki, so he wasn’t sure if it was Loki himself, or—what would be more scary—it was kissing a man that was so intense. They understood each other in a way Jack had never experienced. Even Keith never knew the whole story of Red Jack’s love and lust. With Loki, he could be his true self and still be accepted. Good enough without pretending to be something else. Red Jack let one of his hands slide to Loki’s back as they kissed, and he closed his eyes while tracing the ugly scars between Loki’s shoulder blades. The whole world could disappear if that meant he could explore those lips forever, slide his tongue along the gums and the roof of Loki’s mouth, nip on the lips and kiss, kiss, kiss with his heart revving in his chest.
Then Red Jack’s phone buzzed in his pocket, and eventually he had to pull away, even as Loki followed his mouth with his open lips. They couldn’t stay here any longer, or it could end up disastrous. He took a deep breath and petted Loki’s cheek with his thumb as he took the call. The scars didn’t look ugly anymore. Sam told him to come back to the club house. It was on.
Five minutes later, they met Sam and Monster by the latter’s nondescript black van, and both the guys zeroed in on Loki.
“He can’t come,” Monster said right away, without even stopping to pull on a pair of thick rubber gloves.
Red Jack tensed up. This confrontation was the last thing he wanted now. “He will just watch.”
“It’s club business,” insisted Monster.
Sam frowned, but before he opened his mouth, Glock emerged from the building. “You still here? It’s taking you ages.”
Red Jack felt a flush on his face and looked away. After telling Loki about Keith, it was suddenly really hard for him to look at Glock without feeling guilty about lusting after his late son.
Monster dropped his hands. Glock and his wife had essentially taken Monster in when he had still been a teenager, so there was no wonder Monster wanted to impress his fake dad. “We can’t decide what to do with Loki.”
Red Jack avoided looking at Sam too, afraid that his best friend would see right through him, but he needed to man up and stand up for Loki. “His asshole ex is getting what’s coming tonight, and all he wants to do is be there. He fucking deserves it.”
Glock was silent for several seconds. He was the club’s sergeant-at-arms, and so his decision would be final, as Borg would not want to discredit Glock in the eyes of everyone else, especially not in such a minor matter. “Won’t he talk? Get scared?” asked Glock finally.
Red Jack put his hand on Loki’s nape, and he could swear Loki leaned into the touch the tiniest bit. Not enough for anyone to see, but more than enough for Red Jack to sense it. “He’s my cousin, not a rat.”
Glock narrowed his eyes. “So you vouch for him?”
“Yes,” Red Jack said without hesitation, but surprised himself at how easy the word came to him. It had to still be the kiss lingering on his lips that had him so drunk on confidence.
Glock nodded. “All right then. Take him, and don’t waste the whole night,” he said before walking off.
Sam exhaled. “That must be some grudge,” he muttered to Loki before opening the van on the driver’s side.
“Fucker should have stayed in the gutter,” Red Jack added, almost believing his own words now. For a moment, he was so blinded by rage that he forgot it was actually Loki who shot him, not Mozer. Then again, maybe it was Mozer who made Loki so fucked-up in the head. If that was the case, then he was guilty of the whole thing. If not, he still deserved all that was coming his way.