Falling into a deep slumber, she was dead to the world as her phone buzzed repeatedly on the bedside table. Finally, entering the land of consciousness, she hit a button to make it shut up, thinking it was her alarm. When she heard screeching on the other end she realized she had actually answered it, "hello?"
It was him, low, deep voice penetrating through the speaker.
"What," she spat into the phone, rubbing tiredly at her eyes.
"Your car is ready, you can come pick it up now."
"Okay great, I'll be there soon," she ended the conversation not wanting to hear anything else he had to say right now.
She was utterly exhausted, and her body felt sore, and not the good kind of sore. After the multiple ding ups and scuffles she had been into, it still hurt like a bitch all the same.
Stretching out her muscles, she yelped in pain when she felt a sharp jab in her side. Glancing down she saw a purple bruise forming on her tanned skin. Great, another body to add to the growing pile.
Throwing clothes and shoes on as fast as possible, she all but jumped down the stairs in anticipation. She never left her car with anyone, but she imagined it was like leaving your kid with a random stranger overnight.
It wasn't typical in the town to walk anywhere, in fact you hardly ever saw anyone walking, but it was a nice enough day so Octavia couldn't really complain. She was just in good spirits, Black Betty was fixed and coming home.
A quarter of the way there her phone buzzed, vibrating her body through her pant pocket. She didn't have to look down to know who it was, no one besides Indra or Bellamy texted her. And she saw a note on the counter from Bellamy saying he was working late tonight, so it wasn't him, which only left Indra.
And if it was Indra she only wanted one thing, for Octavia to race, she just didn't assume it would be this sudden. It was in a place a couple of towns over, she recognized the name from signs she saw in passing a few times. She had never actually been there because it wasn't the best place, but Octavia was anything but scared.
Without thinking about it, she typed back yes, throwing out questions about the stakes and who all would be there in order to distract herself for the rest of the dreary walk to…
She just realized, she didn't even know his name. Racking her brain, she came up empty every time. Not even the shop name was coming to mind. Guess she was preoccupied last night. If there's one thing she did know it was every line, contour, and detail of his body.
The door formerly closed up last night was gaping wide open this morning, as well as the garage doors.
No one said anything as she sauntered in, but many heads turned, and she could feel their gazes on her ass as she walked through to where she knew the office was. She didn't have time for a random hookup right now, her head had to remain in the game if she was going to win the race tonight. And she was. She just hoped asshole would be there.
He didn't glance up at her when her shoes first clanked against the concrete floor of his office.
Finally, he tore his gaze away from the paperwork in front of him to lightly grin up at her. Quizzically she kinked up one eyebrow at his good mood, "you seem chipper this morning."
He just shrugged, "well it was almost 12 A.M. last night, and some irritating, reckless, infuriating girl showed up on my doorstep. You can see where my crankiness came from."
She shook her head, mouth lifting into a smirk at one corner of her mouth, "on the contrary, if someone showed up on my doorstep looking like me, I'd be pretty damn thrilled."
He let out a chuckle, standing up and going around his desk, back to where she had just come from. But she didn't see her car when she walked through.
He motioned to one of the guys, yelling at him in a snappish tone as he blatantly checked Octavia out, and before her eyes, her car was being lowered.
It was like one of those scenes out of a cheesy romance movie, she only had eyes for her car, and as soon as the wheels touched the ground, she flung herself dramatically on the hood.
"Oh baby, how I've missed you, I promise not to push you too hard again."
She retracted her body when she heard a wolf whistle, realizing she was giving all the men there a good view of her ass.
"I'd let you push me that hard any day baby," filth seeped out of his mouth.
Octavia whipped around, "no offense, but you look a lot less durable than my car. And if she couldn't handle me, you sure as hell can't," came her sickeningly sweet answer.
Not expecting that kind of response, the guy visibly fumbled to come up with something, but ended up sounding like a sputtering car.
A wide grin rose on her face as she turned her head back around to Lincoln, "she's all good to go, but keep good on your promise. Don't drive her like a douchebag. It's a nice car," he commented dreamily as he ran his hand along the top.
And it was a nice car. Solid black, with two perfectly symmetrical white lines piercing through the middle. Her '67 Chevelle would put any newer car on its ass, she proved that many times over. Muscle over modern was always her motto.
Breaking his love connection to the car, he let his hand fall to the side, "alright well just sign some paperwork and you're free to go."
She nodded as she proceeded towards the front desk. He didn't make her pay for anything, as a favor to Indra…that's how he rationalized it anyway. Even though the deal was just for letting her store the car in someplace safe overnight.
Before she could make it back, she heard her name being called out. It sounded foreign coming from his lips, but it tumbled out so nicely she wanted to hear it again and again and again. Preferably as he was on top of her.
Shaking those thoughts from her mind, she hesitantly entered his office again, "yeah?"
Not speaking immediately sent Octavia's mind into panic mode. Finally he loudly exhaled and scratched the back of his neck, "look I know where you're going tonight. Indra mentioned it might be kinda dangerous. Not the place for you—"
"So Indra asked you to talk me out of it? The same Indra who was practically chomping at the bit earlier when I talked to her?"
She shook her head in disbelief, "you're gonna have to try harder than that."
"She didn't ask me to do anything, but I know those kind of places, and it isn't a place where you should be, especially not by yourself."
"You don't think I'm capable of handling myself? Who the fuck are you to tell me, what I can and can't handle? I've been doing just fine on my own before you came into the picture, and newsflash, I'll be damn fine after."
He could feel anger seething from her, but even that didn't thwart his attempt, "this has nothing to do with you, and everything to do with those people there."
"What do you even know about them?"
"Let's just say I've been where you're at."
She threw her hands up, "God, it's like your beating around the proverbial bush, get to the point so I can go."
"I know them because I was one of those asshole guys," he finally exploded, slamming his fists down onto his desk.
Sighing, he sat back down calmly, "I used to race with them for awhile, until some bad shit went down. I got out, case closed, end of story."
"You're gonna have to give me more than that."
"I can't," he huffed looking at her annoyed expression, "look I'm just asking you to sit this one out."
She was already shaking her head, "you've given me no reason why I should, besides some vague references here and there. I'm not dropping out for that."
"Fine," he spat at her, "do whatever you want. But don't come crying to me when shit goes down. You'll have no one to blame but yourself."
It took everything in her not to say anything back, but the more civilized, more mature response was to zip her lips and walk away.
So that's what she did, and she didn't look back as her car peeled out of the parking lot.
It wasn't that she was too stubborn for her own good. She didn't mind taking useful advice when, but he literally gave her nothing. He was asking her to trust him, when it was obvious he didn't trust her. It had to work both ways.
Making it to the location, she put the car in park, watching the sun was slowly lower itself into the ground. It would be time to start soon.
The actual place wasn't nearly as bad as she thought, granted it was still seedy and trashy looking, but Lincoln, she finally knew his name from the tag on his shirt, made it sound like Crack Town, USA.
Indra's face appeared in her peripheral vision as she rested her head against the back of the seat. As soon as Indra turned her car off, Octavia got out of hers, meeting at the driver's door, "wasn't too sure you'd make it."
"Why? You thought your lackey friend would stop me?"
It came out more accusatory than she meant, but Indra didn't seem fazed.
"No I knew he wouldn't get anywhere with you. In fact I told him that. The only person more stubborn than you is him."
Content with her answer, she leaned on the hood of the car as Indra stalked away to meet some of the other people trickling in.
Sun almost fully faded from the horizon, brought darkness upon them as people started coming out of the woodwork. She was almost 100% positive Lincoln's warning applied to the people, and not the place, she remembered that now. And she couldn't say it was unwarranted.
They looked eerily creepy, haunted, like they had nothing to lose and nothing to stop them from going over the edge. She recalled back to his outburst, saying he was one of those people. It sent a pang to her heart to think of him in that manner, and she didn't know why.
She tried to pretend like their lingering gaze didn't affect her, but it put her on edge. Yes, she was used to men leering at her, but that was almost always for her body. These people had a different look in their eye.
Turning her back on them, she went towards the direction of her car to move it to the procession lineup where everyone else's was parked. For the second time that night, she stepped out of her car, more confident this time. She knew everyone was watching. She couldn't let them see any sign of weakness.
Indra met her halfway, "they're racing for pink slips."
Her feet skidded to a halt, "what?"
Indra sighed, keeping her chin up, "I told you it was high stakes and very risky. You chose to come remember?"
"I thought you meant risky like a lot of money. Not risky like idiotic and crazy."
"Just don't lose."
That was the great Indra's word of advice. Just don't lose. Well, when you put it like that, it sounds fucking easy.
Gritting her teeth in anger, she spun on her heel, digging around the glove box until she produced the slip of paper everyone else had already offered up into a pile. She couldn't back down now. She was already there.
Reluctantly, she dropped it down, never taking her eyes off of it. She couldn't lose before because asshole was there, but now, she really couldn't fucking lose.
As she headed back to her car, she saw a face she didn't think she'd see in a million years charging towards her at a slow, but determined speed.
"Ah, Lincoln, here to join in the fun? It's been, what, almost 5 years now? I hear you're doing good, good for you man."
It was the way he said it that rubbed Octavia the wrong way. Like he wasn't glad at all to hear he was doing good. She looked between the two of them, but neither paid any attention.
Lincoln's face remained blank, but she could see the veins in his neck subtly tensing, "just here to watch. Nothing more."
"You came out of hiding to just watch? Nah I'm not buying that shit," the guy's eyes trailed off, looking for some indication for Lincoln's presence. Suddenly his eyes flickered over to where Octavia was aggressively staring at Lincoln.
"Ah," he said as though everything clicked, "you're here for her. You have to be, there's no way you'd show your face here with us, what did you call us again? Brain dead, cracked out, junkies who get off on the thrill of the kill…right?"
"You're paraphrasing," Lincoln commented dryly, "but more or less. And I'm not here to watch her, I'm here to watch you."
Words, sharp like a knife, sliced through the tense silence as neither refused to blink first. Lincoln looked like a scary ass, tough dude, but she never imagined him to be this deadly.
Cackling humorously, the guy shook his head, "well this will be one hella race then, I guarantee you."
Crowd dispersing, everyone went to their separate cars. Octavia said nothing, twisting her shoulder away from his body as she went to pass him.
His hand shot out with an astounding amount of speed, latching on to her elbow, "hey, watch yourself out there. I won't be able to see you until you come around the final bend and cross the finish line. They talk a lot of shit, but they're even worse driving. Don't let your guard down for even a fraction of a second."
He didn't let go of her elbow until he was confident she understood. She nodded her head, gently removing her arm from his grip, "I'll watch my ass. I got it."
Before she could close the door to her car, his hand shot out again, "watch your ass, but make sure to win."
Her mouth twitched up into a smirk watching him walk away. Closing her door, she waited for the horn, and as soon as she heard it, she left every other thought behind her.
The only thing that mattered now was getting Black Betty across the finish line, she couldn't let her down twice. Not after she fucked her over the first time.
These guys were no joke, of course Octavia never held back, but she wasn't used to this kind of reckless and carelessness.
Swerving in and out between cars, only in an attempt to sandwich them in between another car or a wall. They were brutal, relentless. Octavia could understand, do whatever it takes to win.
When she could almost see the illumination of the white banner reflecting off a headlight, she kicked it into overdrive, careful not to strain Black Betty. But she didn't have to, Black Betty apparently had a mind of her own, and she wanted to win as bad as Octavia.
There were three cars behind her, one directly at her 2 o'clock, and one in front. She managed to maneuver herself into a small gap, enough to line herself up parallel with the guy from earlier.
She paid him no attention, keeping her head and eyes directly in front of her. That didn't mean she couldn't feel his probing stare as they battled, side by side.
He put up on helluva fight, but at the last second Octavia got the upper hand, urging her car forward at snails pace until she was in the lead. She just had to keep this up, just for a few more seconds. She could almost reach out and touch the finish line, it was that close.
Finally, the front end of her car barely crossed over the line. She was home free. She fucking won.
It wasn't until she felt a bump on the back of her car Lincoln's advice came to mind. Don't count yourself out of the game until your opponent is dead on the ground basically.
Then it was too late, she didn't see it coming, but she sure felt the guy's car merging forcefully into hers, hitting it with the force of a battering ram. Black Betty was tough, but not invincible, and she was taking a pretty nasty pounding when Octavia felt the car tipping onto the side.
Letting go of the wheel, she placed her arms over her chest, holding her breath as the impact hit her, hard. She wasn't sure how long her car flipped for, but when she opened her eyes she was upside down and dizzy.
Dust from the dueling cars gathered in the wind, creating a barrier, leaving Octavia with zero visibility as to what was going on in the outside world. She could hear muffled voices and shuffling feet from her cracked window.
She felt around for blood anywhere on her body, but luckily she wasn't banged up too bad. There was soreness in her arms, and a few cuts on her face, but Black Betty was a tank.
Coughing as dirt infiltrated her lungs, she yanked hard at the seatbelt, trying to pry it apart when a large hand knocked hers out of the way.
Her eyes flittered open and close against her will as Lincoln's face came into her line of sight. One firm jerk from his well toned arm and she was loose, his hand shooting out to catch her before she took a nosedive into the steering wheel.
Hearing her groan, Lincoln's voice instantly softened to a tone she had never heard come out of his mouth, "it's alright. I've got you."
He kept her body close to his as he pulled her from the wreckage, "but don't think I'm not going to say I told you so."
Octavia groaned even louder, but not out of pain this time. At that Lincoln smiled, standing her upright on her feet as he slipped his arm beneath her rib cage, avoiding her chest.
"Fuck, what about my car," her mumbled voice came out low, and only half coherent.
"I took care of it. We're going back to the shop and she'll be there when we get there."
Dropping her gently into the passenger seat of his car, he was grateful to see color rushing back to her cheeks as he turned the last corner before the shop.
The whole way there he kept mindlessly babbling to her, making sure she stayed conscious, asking her questions about her life or just little things. Occasionally she would open her eyes for a split second, but they fluttered shut again, each time eliciting fear from Lincoln.
Throwing the car into park jolted her awake enough to fully open her eyes as she turned her head, searching for her car.
Lincoln chuckled, helping her out of the car, "I told you she's coming. I'll make good on the promise, but first let's make sure you don't have a concussion or anything."
"You got some sort of special mechanical tool that can detect that?"
He snorted, shaking his head, "no but I live upstairs above the garage."
Content with that answer, she allowed him to lead her through the door and up a narrow staircase until she was in his place.
"It would've taken too long to go back to your house. Plus, I wasn't really paying attention last night," he lazily lifted one shoulder up in a half shrug, sitting her down on a barstool in the kitchen.
Turning her chin towards the light, she was able to get a better look at him now that she was lucid. He was the most beautiful thing she had ever beheld. The smooth contours of his face offered a nice contrast to the passion burning in his eyes.
"See? I'm fine, nothing a few days of rest won't fix. Can I go check on my car now? I'd rather cry about it now than wait any longer," she bitterly laughed. Truthfully she didn't want to see her car at all, not after that fucking douchebag played bumper cars with it.
Speaking of him, "hey what happened to the guy?"
Lincoln's hand moved from her face suddenly as his body tensed up. He didn't say anything for awhile, and Octavia chalked it up to another answer she wasn't gonna get out of him. He surprised them both when he spoke, "I may have gotten a little out of hand, but he deserved every hit he got."
A warm smile formed on her face, but it vanished when fury returned to his eyes, "I told you it was a fucking bad place. Next time, just listen when I say something. I don't know you, but I didn't have to, I know them—"
"Right," she interjected, "because you were them."
She snorted, shaking her head, "you aren't them. You never were. Maybe at one time you thought so, but you weren't. And I don't need to know you to be sure of that."
Giving her no time to process, he leapt forward, crushing his mouth to hers, roughly pushing his tongue into the hot crevice of her mouth.
Stunned was an understatement. She let him take control, probing and running his tongue along every nook and cranny of her mouth. Finally after a few seconds she responded eagerly, gripping the front of his shirt in between her palms.
Every reaction has an equal an opposite reaction. Nothing could've summed them up better. Every time he pushed her back, she shoved forward just as hard, molding their bodies together until it wasn't clear where his ended and hers began.
With one arm around her back, he effortlessly lifted her up onto the counter as she wrapped her legs around his waist, drawing him in closer.
As soon as she could feel his straining erection against her, she broke the kiss to let out a guttural moan. His lips continued their onslaught down her neck, stopping right at her collarbone, alternating between nipping at her delicate skin and sucking.
Moving her hands to his shoulders, she clenched on for dear life as his lips moved further down.
He took the hem of her shirt, flung it over her head, repeating the motion with his own. In that length of time, Octavia kicked off her boots as they thudded to the ground. She got her pants halfway down her legs when his hands took over and tore them off her body.
Tugging at the fabric of her panties, he ripped them apart, and ordinarily she would've been pissed, but lust clouded her vision.
Suctioning his mouth back to her neck, her hands trailed in between their bodies, shoving his pants down. And she would've succeeded in ridding him of his boxers, but his lips attached to that sensitive part behind her ear. She was putty in his hands.
Aware of this state, he took the liberty of releasing his own painful erection, letting out a hiss when she used her heels to bring their bodies together.
He didn't have to do anything further. Her hand gripped him securely, lining his dick up with her throbbing center, slowly easing into it.
Letting her adjust to his size, he placed light kisses along her collarbone, his hands wandering all over her body until she rocked against him.
He took that as her demand to continue and pick up the pace. To both of which he fervently complied.
His breath came out in short gasps against her skin as her forehead rested on his shoulder. His low, husky voice in her ear made her even wetter as he all but slid out of her.
His thrusts were steady, but hard, shoving so deep inside she could feel his pelvic bone grating against hers.
As soon as she could feel her orgasm approaching, she tilted her head towards the ceiling, letting her hair drape across her back. With one more animalistic plunge, her nails sank into his shoulders as she let out a deep whimper, walls clenching around him.
Riding out her wave of immense pleasure, she could feel his thrusts becoming more erratic as his hand delved into the soft tresses of her dark hair. When she sultrily traced the outside of his ear with her tongue, and tugged his lobe into her mouth, he barely had time to pull out before his hot seed came flowing out.
Gripping her hips roughly, he controlled his ragged breathing, coming down from his high as he let some of his weight fall into her embrace. Flexing his hands, he kept them firmly positioned on her waist, but loosened his hold.
Moisture from his hot breath collected on her sticky skin, but she was too thoroughly fucked to care.
"So do I?"
Abruptly, he picked his head up from her shoulder, looking at her in confusion "do I fuck like I drive?"
He grinned, "yep, just as bad."