I laughed gently. “Suppose so.”
“See… that’s what I’m talking about,” Grasshopper said, his posture hungry for his perfect other.
Trying to keep my head straight and not be consumed by the rapidly building need between Art and me, I asked, “Do you have someone?”
Grasshopper chuckled. “You kidding? The only women I meet are the ones after me ’cause they think I’m a rule breaker or they’re looking for a cushy retirement fund.”
Mo sniffed. “Kill’s a kick-ass Prez, but by getting us on the right side of the law and cleaning out the Club, he’s fucked us.”
“What the fuck?” Arthur growled.
My eyebrows rose. “Oh?”
Grasshopper laughed. “Smug bastard over there with his genius brain for numbers went and made us goddamn rich, didn’t he? Not only do we now appeal to the women who want to get off on a scary biker who says fuck you to the law—not the case now but back in the day, hell yeah—but we also have to fend off the Barbie-doll princesses who’ve been groomed for a man with money by aspiring parents.”
I shook my head, marveling at how such a conversation could take place after something so serious. “And they don’t care that you’re in a Club or prefer a bike over an Aston Martin?”
Grasshopper smirked. “Hell nah. It only sweetens the package. Millionaire biker on the right side of the law with the protection of a brotherhood who would do anything to shelter their own? Who doesn’t want that shit?”
Mo rolled his eyes. “I’m not getting myself an old lady.” Pointing a finger at himself, he added, “Lone wolf.”
Arthur chuckled, holding me closer. “Well, Lone Wolf, I apologize for making you guys so damn desirable. Now fuck off. I want to ride home alone with my girl.”
Grasshopper looked down the road, his face tightening. All signs of joking and banter disappeared. “You sure that’s a good idea, dude? We’re in their territory, after all.”
Arthur’s muscles bunched, sending shock waves into mine. My fingers ached to slide down his front to his cock. The sparking interest in my core promised he felt it—felt the twitching need to connect after talking about things that had the potential to tear us apart.
I needed him inside me. I needed him now.
“We’re good. We’re stopping on the way. But it will be in our borders.” He looked at me, promises of what we would do once alone glowing in his gaze.
A warm tingle started in my heart and radiated in my belly. He did feel it.
Grasshopper came forward and slapped Arthur on the back. “All right, Kill. We’ll see you back at base.” Blowing me a kiss, he said, “It’s kick-ass that you’re part of us now, Cleo-Sarah.” He frowned. “However, might have to call you CS for short.”
“See ya on the flip side.” Waving, him and Mo headed to their bikes, yanked their helmets on, and took off with a roar into the night.
The second they left the parking lot, the awareness between Arthur and I sprang to a fever.
I ached. I melted.
We didn’t move—almost as if we had an unspoken agreement to wait. To make sure they were gone before we gave into the overwhelming pull.
Five.
Four.
Three.
The thunder of their engines faded.
Two.
One.
Arthur moved, backing me quickly and firmly up against the wall of the diner. My back collided with bricks and my lungs practically collapsed with the fierceness of his actions.
I didn’t have time to protest as his lips stole mine, hot and wet and possessive.
I moaned as his hand came up, capturing my breast. His touch bordered on painful but it only fired me more.
Kissing him back, I sucked his tongue into my mouth, arching my hips into his. The groan in his chest sent love blazing through me, incinerating my heart.
Our heads danced as we both fought for control; our breathing turned ragged as the kiss deepened. In a second we evolved from kissing to dry-humping against the painted brick wall.
“Wait—Art,” I panted into his mouth as his hand dropped to cup my core. All thoughts were inconsequential as his fingers pressed intoxicatingly against my clit. “Wait!”
He suddenly let me go, backing up and dragging hands over his face. His wet lips glistened in the moonlight as they spread into a crooked grin. “Fuck, I want you so much I could take you right here—damn anyone watching.”
My chest rose and fell as lust spiraled in my system, burning my morals to dust. “Let’s go. The sooner we’re out of here the sooner we can be alone.”
The desperate look in his eyes almost made me come.
Holding out his hand, he ordered, “Let’s go, then. Before we’re arrested for public indecency.”
We hadn’t gone far—maybe half an hour—when Arthur eased on the throttle of his fierce two-wheeled monster.
The township where Dagger Rose ruled had long since disappeared as we turned off the main road and followed a rabbit warren of lanes.
The bumps and dips didn’t help my sore ass, and my spine screamed by the time Arthur killed the engine.
We stopped at the beginning of a track, sand covered almost everything, and there wasn’t another soul around.
Thank God it was a full moon tonight, otherwise we would never have been able to see in the darkness.
Arthur climbed off, stretching.
“Where are we?” I asked, ruffling my hair.
Grabbing my waist, he pulled me effortlessly from the bike, pressing my body against this as he let me slink down his front to my feet. “Not telling,” he murmured as his fingers kissed my throat, undoing my helmet before letting it drop to the sand-covered grass below.
His eyes were green beacons in the ghostly silver night and the silhouettes of trees protected us rather than haunted.
“You tell me where we are, Cleo.” He ducked, nuzzling his nose behind my ear. “Tell me what I did to you here.”
My core clenched as the need that had consumed us at the diner came back with vengeance.
“I—”
With a soft smile, he pulled away. With our fingers linked, he guided me forward. He didn’t say a word as we made our way down an overgrown track, our shoes sinking deeper into sand the farther we walked. The balmy evening hummed with insects and the occasional slap of water.
The tide?
I narrowed my eyes, willing any memory to come as we moved into wilderness.
“Tell me,” he whispered. “Don’t say you’ve forgotten. Don’t break my heart that way.” His lips tilted into a lopsided grin.
Even though he meant it as a joke, it still hurt to think how hard all of this would be for him. If I was in his shoes I would be a mess thinking of all the special times we’d had together being lost. For them to mean so little they’d been forgotten.
“I would never intentionally hurt you, Art.” I squeezed his fingers. “You know that, right?”
He looked away, but not before I caught the same guilt and misery that he’d worn before believing me.
“I know there’s more you’re not telling me. You don’t have to be afraid.”
He swallowed hard. “Don’t push me, Cleo. Time, remember? I still need time to get used to all of this.” Yanking me to a stop, he cupped my cheek. “To get used to having you back—despite everything that happened to ruin us. Let’s just enjoy this.” He kissed me feather-soft. “Please?”
I sighed against his mouth. “Okay.” Trying my best to lighten the mood, I whispered, “So what exactly did you do to me here?”
I shuddered as he wrapped an arm around my hips, pressing me firmly against his erection. “I finally gave in to you. I broke a few laws bringing you here.” He laughed at a memory still lost to me. “Goddammit, you were so young. Too young. But we both knew what we wanted. You—fuck… you never took no for an answer.”
His voice dropped to a teasing murmur. “You want to know what you did to me in return that night?”
“Yes.” My heart bucked as moisture built between my legs. “What did I do?”
His eyes glazed over with reminiscent lust. “You made me come. For the first time, but definitely not the last.”
My heart squeezed.
Letting me go, Arthur stole my hand again, drifting forward to where ever he wanted to take me. I would follow him anywhere. My mind was consumed with images of making out with my green-eyed lover, thrilling with accomplishment at making him come undone in my hands.
Arthur whispered, “You were so wet. So fucking sweet and responsive.”
My mouth went dry as my core turned deliciously damp.
“I didn’t mean to go so far. I didn’t mean to lose control. But you made it so damn hard to say no.”
The undergrowth suddenly gave way to the most perfect white private beach. The water glittered like gemstones—sapphires, turquoise, and lapis beneath the moonlight. The tree fronds acted as sentries keeping us safe from prying eyes, while the sand was white and virgin as freshly dusted snow.
The present fell away, giving way to the past.
“You can touch me, Art. I want you to touch me.”
I didn’t know what’d gotten into me but the mere thought of having his fingers on me, in me—it drove me a little mad. My mother had had the sex talk with me when I started my period two years ago. She’d told me the mechanics of lovemaking—of how babies were made and how sexually transmitted infections could tear my life apart.