I step on the foot peg and throw my leg over using his back to keep steady. He starts the bike and tells me to hang on to him. I put my arms around him but apparently it wasn’t tight enough because he reached back and pulled my arms closer around him. Now, I was in full body contact with him. Now I see his play here. Smart man. I have to say it was not exactly a hardship to spend time with this man’s hard, tight body crushed to mine. And then we were off. I don’t think the smile has left my face since we pulled out onto the open road. How could something that would have been dangerous to me yesterday, feel so freeing to me today? The scenery is beautiful as he takes me further and further out of town. Missouri has been home for me since college, but I don’t think I have ever looked at it from this perspective. I thought I would be nervous. Apparently, I am a natural at riding on the back of a bike. I feel completely relaxed. Maybe, I trust this complete stranger more than I should, but after he saved me last night and guarded me with his body, then held me through my nightmare, I don’t think there is any fear left in me when I am around him. Like I told you this man is dangerous. I really should be running the other way. He reaches his arms back and gives my thigh a squeeze. I look to that side and see we are coming up on a pull off. He pulls the bike to the side of the road and down a little narrow path.
We had only ridden maybe twenty-five minutes, but it looks like we are so far away from my little town. We get off of the bike without incident. Thank God I chose today to be graceful. He looks at me and gives me a sheepish grin. “This is the back half of my property. I wanna take you somewhere. Is that ok?” “Yeah, of course.” I say that without even thinking. Did I really have a choice? When someone who looks like Brantley asks you something with this boyish look on his face you don’t say no. You say yes and then wonder why later. So I would leave the wondering to later. He takes hold of my hand after grabbing what looks like a picnic basket, and guides me through some trees. I can see there is a little bit of a worn path that he is taking me on. “Are your feet ok in those boots baby? It’s not too much farther.” That was sweet. “Trust me, I’ve worn higher, for a lot longer, through a lot worse.” He chuckled and came to an abrupt stop. I ran into the back of him and looked up to see a beautiful waterfall. I could hear the running water and I saw some rocks that looks like you could jump off of them. Wow. I was completely speechless. “Brantley, this is…” He interrupts, “I know. I see strings, did you wear your suit?” I nod and start walking toward the water. It looks like the sun shines just enough on the water that it may actually be warm. I dip my fingers into the water and sigh with content. “It will feel great babe. Get your clothes off and jump in.” I laugh a nervous laugh and wonder how on earth I got myself into this situation.
I can tell already his body is perfect and I am not normally one to be self-conscious. I work out every day, but I also like to indulge in all things chocolate. He looked at me with a knowing grin. He was going to have some sort of smart ass reply so I really just needed to get this over with. I get my boots off and I pull the tee over my head and threw it on a rock. I went for the button on my pants and before I could do anything I heard “Christ, what was I thinking?” I whip my head up to look at him. He was staring at me and I swear I could see the heat in his eyes. Well, if that wasn’t the confidence booster I needed I don’t know what is. I shimmy out of my pants feeling quite sexy. The next thing I know Brantley is right in front of me. “Babe, I’m tryin real hard to be a gentleman here. What is this scrap of material you are wearing?” I lightly chuckle and reply “I could’ve worn a one piece. You’re the one who specified a bikini.” He shakes his head as he pulls his shirt over his head. I step back so I can watch. And what a show it is. Ladies, seriously given the chance you would have ended up exactly where I am right now. He undoes his pants and I realize I am about to see him in his underwear. Oh. My. If ever the world questioned if there was a God this man proved there was indeed. I see that what I expected to be covered in tattoos is a blank canvas. I can see a small line of black ink on his side, but from this angle I can’t see what it is. “You should be a model.” Did I just say that out loud? I hear him chuckle. “Babe, men don’t model.” Not true. “Um, actually lots of men do.” He smirks, “Not men like me.” This was true. He would need to be a model for a motorcycle magazine of some sort. Too much badass to be a GQ model. I walk over to the rock and turn to ask “Is it deep enough for me to jump in?” He gets close, “You sure you want to? It’s kinda high.” I look up to him, “I’m all about taking risks today.” “Thank Christ for that.” To that I smile. Huge. “Babe, when you smile. Good God, you light up an already bright day.” Wow. That was really sweet. “Is this you schmoozing me?” “Yes. Is it working?” “I’ll let you know.”
He walks up beside me and holds my hand. He counts to three and we take a running leap off the rock. It’s over within seconds but the invigorating feeling that I have when I come up out of the water is everything I feel I have been searching for. The feeling of being completely screwed has now crossed my mind more times than I can count today. I tread water as I feel Brantley’s hand wrapped around my waist from behind. He gives me little warning when he pulls in a deep breath and I feel his hand on my head. We both go under and when I come back up I don’t give him much time to think about it. I pull in my own deep breath and push down on his head with all of my might. Obviously, he is stronger than me so we don’t stay under very long and before I know what is happening we are in shallow water and I am up over his shoulder in a fireman’s hold. He smacks my butt and I let out a girlish yell. He walks with me back over to the rock and I know he is going to throw me in. I let out a scream and pull in the biggest breath I can take as I feel myself flying through the air. I hit the water, but I want to make him feel bad for throwing me in so I don’t come up right away. I wonder how long I have to stay under here before he-. Before I can even finish my thought he comes crashing through the water and I feel his arms around me. I come up laughing and pulling air into my lungs. I don’t think he realizes I am laughing because he is frantically pulling me from the water. “Mel, baby. I am so sorry. I thought you caught your breath. I was just playin.” Oh boy. I feel bad. He looks horrified. I continue to laugh though. Serves him right for throwing me in the water. “Are you laughing?” Uh oh. “Yes, I held my breath. You should have seen your face.” He’s out of breath, “You’re kidding me right now? Seriously, I thought I hurt you.” “Sorry, I thought you needed taught a lesson.” “Well, if that didn’t work I don’t know what would have. You scared the shit out of me.” I point out, “You have a good response time though. I must say if I really were drowning you would have saved me.” I say this still laughing and I feel him glaring at me. Then I was up and over his shoulder again. Back to the rock, but this time we both went flailing into the water. He pulls me up to the surface and we both tread water. I am still laughing and now he is shaking his head slightly amused. “You continue to surprise me Melanie Doran.” Really? “How much information did you look up about me yesterday? You couldn’t have had much time.” He nods, “Not too much. We need to look into how much information there is about you out there. I don’t want anyone to be able to find you the way that I did. I don’t care if your gate is working properly. It should not have been that easy for me to find you.” Who was he kidding? “You’re telling me! That was a part of what I wanted to talk to my security team about, but you wouldn’t let me!” He smiles, “I will put Jason on it. He’s good with computers so we will make sure anyone can see only what we want them to see.” I nod because that is what I want to. “Clients come to me now. I don’t really need to advertise, but I don’t want to be unsearchable.” I was freaking out and he’s all calm, “We’ll make it all good baby. No worries.” I needed to point out, “I just want you to know this is very unlike me. I make very calculated decisions and I never let someone else have control.” He smiles, “Funny, I’m the same way.” Exactly! “Reason number one as to why we will never work.” “Hey
that is strike number two on the rules for today. You can’t doom us to fail right off the bat.” Yeah, I forgot about the dumb rules. “Ok, so now do I get to get out of the water and dry off? Catch a little sun?” He splashes me, “Yeah let’s do that. I can’t see your body where we are right now.” I roll my eyes again and start to head for the shore. “We are really gonna need to work on you not rollin your eyes at me, babe. Can’t have my guys see you disrespectin me. They will think its ok to do that. And it definitely isn’t.” To that I didn’t know what else there was to do, but laugh. He is probably so used to living in a world where everyone walks on pins and needles to make sure that he is happy. “I already warned you. I’m not the type of girl that you control. I told you from the get go. It’s not fair for you to ask me to change who I am because it doesn’t work in “your world”.” He shakes his head, “Christ, I’m gonna be beatin some ass whenever you’re around the guys.” I slap at him, “Hey, if it’s too much trouble, I don’t have to make the decision that you’re telling me I should this evening. I can just go with my gut, and get the heck out of here.” He grabs my extended hand and pulls me into him, “Never, you’re goin to give us a shot. I’m in the process of proving it will be worth it babe. Roll with me here.” I put my hands between us, “I am, I am. I actually am having a really good time. I am also surprised how much I love the bike.” He smiles, “I could tell, babe. I gotta say, that makes me extremely happy.” I fought the urge to roll my eyes and almost lost. This time I held it in. I heard Brantley chuckle so I’m guessing he noticed my almost eye roll. Oh well. What do you do? Brantley offers me a sandwich and water and we eat with comfortable conversation. After we lay in the sun until I am completely dry.
“Babe, you got a great tan but you’re lookin a little red. I don’t have any sun screen so we should probably get on with the rest of our day.” I open my eyes because I had almost fell asleep. I nod my agreement because I can feel my face is definitely red. It will tan overnight but that won’t make it any less uncomfortable tonight. I stand up and gather my clothes and start to put them back on. I hear a loud sigh as he grabs the clothes out of my hands. “I take it back. I really don’t want you to cover yourself up.” I stand there with my jaw dropped. “Brant, give me my clothes. You have things to prove. I have decisions to make.” He chuckles shaking his head and finally handing my clothes back to me. I hurry back into my clothes before he changes his mind. I can see his eyes devouring me and honestly, I want nothing more than for him to do that. This I also plead temporary insanity. I was being honest when I told him I was having a really good time. This property is beautiful. “Why didn’t you build closer to this part of the land?” He explains, “I love it here. When people come to my house the clubhouse is out back. I didn’t want to share this part with everyone. I know it sounds selfish, but this place is special to me.” Hmmm. “So you don’t really share this place?” “I’ve only ever brought one other female here.” Ouch. Why did that hurt me so much? Then I hear him laughing. “I gotta say it feels good to see you turn green with envy, babe. It was my niece. She was having a rough go of things, so I brought her out here to show her my secret thinkin spot. She still comes here sometimes when she needs to. I think it helps clear her head like it does mine. Whenever somethin is goin on with the club I come here and get my head together. She was havin some issues with some girls at school. My sister wasn’t sure what to do, so I took her for the day to get to the bottom of some things. Ended up here.” Wow. That was incredibly sweet. “Uncle Brantley. How cute.” He raised one eyebrow at me. “I am not cute.” “You are.” “Babe.” I fight once again not to roll my eyes and almost lose. Before I have time to fight it anymore his lips are on mine. He breaks the kiss and we are both breathing heavily. “You really need to stop doing that.” “Never.” “I’m serious you keep clouding my judgement. I will never be able to make a sound decision when I am in a Brantley fog all day.” “Brantley fog? If it helps sway you to make your decision the way I want you to, then that’s exactly what I intend to do. Thanks for the tip.” Great. I open my mouth to protest and he starts kissing me again. The worst part? I think I could kiss his lips forever. I would tell you that I am screwed, but if you’re following me here you already know I am. “I need to make a call.” He shakes his head, “No calls, babe. No outside contact.” What? “That’s insane.” He smiles, “My terms. You agreed. Remember?” I sigh heavily and start walking through the clearing back to the bike.
It doesn’t take long before Brantley falls into place beside me and takes my hand. I look up to him and he is smiling down at me. His smile is contagious and even though I am annoyed by his “terms” for the day I find myself smiling up at him. We’re back to the bike and he is wrapping the bandana back around my head. We hop on and I don’t hesitate to hold on like I had before. I’m not sure what time it is but I do know that the sun is high in the sky so it has to be mid-afternoon. I try to take this time to gather my thoughts. So far, the pros are out weighing the cons. One thing just keeps sticking out to me on the con list. In the past twenty-four hours or so he has completely taken over control of my life. I understand that in his world people bow down to him, but in my world people bow down to me. I don’t need him to serve me I just always pictured myself being someone’s equal. With Brantley, that just wouldn’t be possible. In his life women don’t matter. At least that’s what I have seen on TV and read in books. How could I put myself in a situation to fall for a man who wouldn’t consider me his equal? This is why I need to keep a clear head. The kissing and touching needs to stop. The issue with that, of course, is that I think I may have already started falling for him. Hard. I loosen my hold on him trying to make sure that I am not doing anything to indicate that I am going to be choosing being with him after the day is over. If anything this day has taught me it’s that I need to keep my hands and lips to myself. If not I am going to end up in a whirlwind that has heartbreak written all over it. Before I can gather my thoughts I hear rumbling and I hear Brantley mutter shit under his breath.
I look around and see that we are being surrounded by bikes. I have no idea what to think, but I feel his hand reach back on my thigh and give me a squeeze. We begin to pull over at what looks like an old warehouse. The guys around us are giving us the stink eye and I realize that my day has just gone from worrying about a future with Brantley to worrying about having a future in general. My heart is beating so fast, as I take in our surrounding and realize that there really is no way we are getting out of this. What do these guys want? “What can I help you gentlemen with?” He sounds eerily calm. “Jack wants us to give you a message.” Well that doesn’t sound too bad. Brantley stands up and kicks his leg over the bike. He places himself in front of me. “Can’t wait to hear this. What does he want? And since when do you do Jack’s bidding?” The scary man shrugs as if it’s all the same to him. I see Brantley shaking his head as he backs up to make the back of his legs touch mine. I can see he is in guard dog mode and I couldn’t be happier. The last thing I want though is for Brantley to get hurt protecting me. “So what’s the message?” “He wants to meet with her. The message is for her not you.” Brantley jumps in, “That’s not gonna happen. So you can tell him she declines.” The big man looks to me, “Does he speak for you, woman?” I don’t get to respond because Brantley does, “Yes I do. She wants nothing to do with him. I can guarendamntee you that he will not come near my woman. She’s mine. This is not something he doesn’t know already. Y’all are wastin my time. So if you don’t mind we will be on our way.” He looks between us, “This answer is not going to make him happy. He won’t stop until he gets what he wants. You of all people should know this already.” Brantley doesn’t look scared at all, “Yeah, that’s why we don’t associate with him anymore. He answers to me if he even thinks of comin near Melanie. You can pass along that if he does think for some reason this is a good idea he will have a war on his hands with The Skull Shifters. That is a promise.” “Stupid motherfuckers. Ov
er pussy. Dumbest shit I have ever heard.” The man mutters this as he is throwing his leg back over his bike. The bikes roar to life and just as fast as they came they were gone. I finally get my breathing controlled as I look up to see Brantley pacing beside the bike. I can feel my body still shaking but I manage to find my voice. “I know you’re frustrated, but do you mind getting us out of here before someone comes back?” He nods, “Yeah, babe. A part of our day is going to need to be put on hold. I need to talk to the guys. Set somethin up. Come back to my house with me?” I nod, “Sure.” To be honest, I really don’t want to be alone right now. He gets back on the bike and in fifteen minutes we are back at his place. He makes me at home in his family room which has a huge entertainment center. Men and their toys I swear. I hear a loud group of rumbles and I assume it’s the guys coming to meet Brantley. I continue to watch TV, but with the big windows out the back I can see the guys moving toward the clubhouse. I decide to lay down for a bit instead of worrying myself to death. I feel like this is all my fault. If I hadn’t decided on a whim to go out that night I never would have met Jack, and in turn; I never would have met Brantley. They wouldn’t be facing a possible “war” and I would probably be working right now. With that as my last thought I promptly fall asleep.
Shifting Life (Skull Shifters MC Book 1) Page 4
