by Erin Noelle
Stalking into her apartment without a word, she stares wide-eyed at me as I scoop her up in my left arm and kick the door closed behind me, all in one motion. Any pain I may normally be feeling is numbed by the jolts of electricity pulsing throughout my body as I carry her through the small studio apartment to the corner, where her bed is set up.
“Sunshine,” I rumble, covering her mouth with mine, my tongue greeting her with a proper hello before I lower her bare feet to the wood floor. Free from my hold, she peers up at me with her guarded blue eyes, suspicious of what I’m going to do next, but trusting enough to not object.
Positioning myself behind her, I slip my good hand under the jersey and spread my palm out flat at base of her back, pressing down firmly to make her bend forward at the waist. The satiny yellow fabric shifts as she moves, gathering around her ribs and leaving her entire backside exposed. My dick is like a lead pipe in my jeans. This isn’t at all how I planned for this evening to start, but what’s a guy to fucking do when the temptress from his favorite dreams offers herself to him like this?
I stumble awkwardly over the buttons of my jeans with my left hand, finally freeing Thor the Great, then move to her sweet pussy, already glistening with her arousal. I dip one finger into her hot, tight slit then another, preparing her for me. With a sensual moan, she arches her back like a cat in heat, sticking her ass high in the air, which I take to mean she’s more than ready. Removing my fingers, I line the tip of my cock up with her drenched cunt then rock forward with a forceful thrust, burying myself balls-deep in her wet heat.
“Is this what you had in mind?” I growl, grabbing one of her braids and tugging her head back.
Her lust-filled gaze finds me over her shoulder and she grins impishly. “This is always what I have in mind with you, Hulk.”
Her words are like gas to the fire that’s raging out of control inside me. My hips begin to piston furiously in and out of her as I drive us both to a fast, explosive, out-of-control climax that we reach at the exact same time. Pure fucking heaven.
After we both manage to catch our breath, I pepper soft kisses around the back of her neck and nibble on her earlobe, reveling in the smell of our sex heavy in the air. “Now that’s how I like to be greeted, Sunshine,” I murmur against her soft skin, “but I need you to get dressed so we can go on our date. Gunner’s waiting outside for us. He’s playing chauffer, since I’m not supposed to be driving until after the surgery.”
Twirling around to face me, she playfully slaps my left shoulder. “Gunner’s been outside this whole time?! Why didn’t you tell me? And what surgery?! When?!”
Chuckling at how damn cute she is when she’s flustered, I lean forward and rub the tip of my nose against hers. An Eskimo kiss. I don’t think I’ve done that since I was a little kid with my nanny. “Keep the jersey and throw on a skirt for easy access and some comfortable, closed-toe shoes on, gorgeous. Panties are optional, but I can guarantee you won’t be coming home with them on. We’ll talk about everything else tonight. I promise.”
Thankfully, Gunner doesn’t give us any shit about how long it took us inside the apartment, even though there’s no doubt in my mind he knows exactly what we were doing. Conversation is easy between the three of us on the twenty-minute drive out to the land I’ve rented for the evening. I didn’t want to take any chances of being interrupted by other riders or going to jail for trespassing on private property, so Emmy Sue helped me work out a deal with a local developer to use the secluded piece of property for tonight.
Since she saw the bike trailer hooked up to the Gunner’s SUV, Dakota knows we’re going riding and won’t sit still, squirming around in her seat with excitement. But what she doesn’t know is everything else I have set up for her. I can’t wait to see her face when we pull up.
As Gunner turns down a dirt road, just on the outskirts of civilization, he announces, “We’re almost there, kids.”
“What is all that up there?” she asks, straining her neck to look out the windshield at the setup as we pull up. Damn it! I meant to bring a blindfold. I knew I’d forgotten something.
“Close your eyes, Dakota,” I instruct as the vehicle comes to a stop and the engine shuts off. “No peeking until I say so.”
Quickly exiting my side, I move around to let her out, opening her door and holding her hand as she slides down to the ground. Gunner is busy unloading his bike from the trailer, leaving us some privacy as I guide her out to the middle of the field, stopping a few yards away.
I bend down to brush my lips across hers in a light kiss. “Okay, you can open them now.”
Her lids slowly flutter open, and as she gets her first look at everything surrounding her, she clamps her hand over her mouth and tears begin to form in her eyes. “Oh, my God, James,” she gasps, her gaze wildly darting around, not knowing what to focus on first. “What did you do? This is too much.”
“Nothing’s too much for my girl, Sunshine. Get used to it now. I like spoiling you.” Warmth swells inside me as I grab her hand and pull her up against me, wiping the wetness from her cheeks. “While we still have daylight, we’re gonna go for a ride on the bike first, since I never got a chance to take you out when we were on the bus. And speaking of buses, it’s not my Night Fury, but it’s the closest I could find locally.” I turn her toward the jet-black tour bus parked off to the side and point up. “Look at the roof. It’s been set up with blankets and pillows so we can eat dinner up there and talk like we did in Houston. All the food and drinks are stocked in the fridge on the bus whenever we’re ready.”
“Bu—but this is crazy,” she stammers, motioning her arms around in a circle at the tiki torches surrounding the area and the obscene amount of yellow flowers blanketing the ground. Gerber daisies, buttercups, poppies, and daffodils, to be exact. That was definitely a phone call I should’ve let Emmy Sue make. However, I’m well prepared for the next time I order flowers for her.
She stares at me with adoring disbelief, and I love the way my heart pounds in response. I hope I can always make her look at me like that . . . like she feels cherished and treasured. “How did you even get all this here?”
Snickering at her question, Gunner saunters up and gives us a nod as he crosses his arms over his chest. “It wasn’t easy, Sunshine, but your boy here was determined, and Emmy and I were more than happy to help out. Everything should be ready to go for y’all. If I don’t hear from you beforehand, I’ll be back around midnight to pick you two love birds up.”
“Thanks, man.” I tip my chin at him with an appreciative smile.
As soon as he drives away, she’s bouncing on the balls of her feet and dragging me toward the bike, eager and full of energy. “Come on, Hulk! Eeeep! This is so badass!” She lifts up on her toes and plants kisses all over my face. “I can’t wait to thank you properly later, but right now, I want to ride!”
“Don’t you worry, Sunshine. I’m gonna give you plenty to ride tonight.” I smirk as I slap her ass, my fingers already itching to flip up that short, black pleated skirt she’s wearing to find out if she opted for panties or not. Ugh . . . focus, Levi. “But first . . . the bike.”
Standing by the back tire, I pat the seat. “Come climb on. Just kick your leg over right here, and I’m gonna slide in right behind you.”
“Are you sure you’re okay to do this with your arm? What about the surgery you mentioned?” She hesitantly eyes the right side of my body.
“I’ll be fine. I promise. I’m gonna teach you how to drive one, and we’ll piddle around, riding slow, exploring what’s out here,” I assure her, patting the seat again. “Now, come get your cute ass on here, and I’ll tell you what you need to do.”
Pushing aside her concerns, she does as I say and swings her leg over the seat, scooting as far up as possible to give me room to slip in behind her. Intuitively, she settles back against me, and my cock jerks against the round globes of her ass. I’ve never had a girl on a bike with me before, but I’m already certain that we�
��ll be doing this a lot.
“Okay, make sure you keep your legs away from the bike, and just put your feet on top of mine,” I explain, pointing my head down to my boots. “The motor gets hot, and I don’t want your sexy-as-fuck legs getting burned.”
She anchors her toes and heels on the top of my feet then nods when she’s set. “What’s next?”
“Now, reach your arms up and grip the handlebars. The right grip is your throttle; that’s what’s gonna make you go.” I flex my hips behind her with the word ‘go’, and she half-giggles, half-moans as she presses back into me. Insatiable little brat.
“Yeah, I know exactly where your throttle is, Hulk. No instructions necessary there.”
Leaning forward, I kiss the side of her neck a couple of times, teasing myself with a small sampling of her sugary skin before I continue the lesson. “The left side is the clutch, which I will control so we can shift. The right brake is going to run the front tire, so don’t squeeze it unless you want to dive over the front end. Got it?”
“Got it. She bobs her head, focusing on the levers attached to the handlebars. “I do the right ones—throttle and brake; you shift gears with the left one. Don’t squeeze the brake too hard.”
“Yup,” I confirm. “Let’s do this.”
After I kick-start the bike to life, we take off with a jerky start as she learns how to handle the throttle. Her angelic laugh can be heard even over the growl of the engine as we sputter forward, but pretty soon she gets the hang of it and finds a leisurely speed as we travel across the expansive field. If I had use of both my arms right now, I’d pull back hard and pop a wheelie . . . but that’ll have to wait until next time.
We ride around for about a half an hour, her comfort level growing with each passing minute until we eventually run into a small creek bordering a patch of thick trees. With surprising ease, she brings the bike to a stop and twists to look at me over her shoulder.
“This is the most awesome thing ever!” she exclaims, her face glowing brighter than I’ve ever seen it. “I want my own bike! I want to ride forever!”
Laughing, I shake my head and kiss her flushed cheek. “How did I know you were going to say that? And lemme guess . . . you want a yellow one with a yellow helmet?”
Nodding vigorously, her eyes light up as if she hadn’t yet thought about the colors she could get. “Ooh, yes. Maybe with some orange and red pinstripes. And cool pants and boots too!”
“You’re incorrigible, you know that?” I ask, tenderly kissing the side of her mouth. “But I’ll see what I can do. For now, why don’t you spin around here, so I can show you other fun things we can do with dirt bikes?”
With a naughty gleam in her eyes, Sunshine doesn’t disappoint. Jacking her leg up high over my head, she swings around on the seat so that she’s straddling the bike and me. And God fucking help me, she’s definitely not wearing any panties.
“Lean back, gorgeous girl. Rest your back and hands on the handlebars,” I command, my tone light.
Perfect. I stand and steady the bike between my legs, which isn’t easy with my injuries, but with her help, I push my jeans and boxers down as far as they’ll go. As I stroke myself a few times, she stares, mesmerized, as her tongue wets her barely parted lips. I glance down to see her sliding her fingers into the sweetest spot I’ve ever encountered. As we sit on the bike pleasing ourselves, never once looking away from each other’s eyes, I know I’ve found the other half of my soul.
“I need to be inside you. Now,” I growl. “Put your arms back on the handlebars and show me how you like to ride, Sunshine.”
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 16
“DO YOU THINK IT WOULD’VE made a difference if I’d been in Germany with you?” I ask hesitantly while feeding Levi a bite of a chocolate-dipped strawberry.
We’re lounging on the roof of the bus, drinking champagne and enjoying dessert after we annihilated dinner. Apparently, lots of sex and riding dirt bikes can really build up an appetite. With my back propped up against a mountain of pillows, my bare legs are stretched in front of me, my upper thighs providing a head rest for Levi as he lies flat on his back, looking straight up into the sea of stars splattered across the inky sky. Neither of us has a stitch of clothing on.
Sinking his teeth into the fruit, playfully nipping my finger as well, he shakes his head confidently. “No,” he grunts after he swallows. “Foss knew I was gonna take that title from him, and the only way he could keep that from happening was to fuck with me or my bike. You being there wouldn’t have changed that. I just wish I could prove he’s the fucker who turned my gas line off.”
His words don’t lessen the sense of blame I feel. Frowning, I stare down into his relaxed face and scrunch my nose up. “Why didn’t you call me and ask about the envelope?” I whine, knowing damn well it’s my own damn fault I didn’t know about the round-trip airfare and ticket to the World Championships. “It could’ve changed things. You never know.”
“And neither do you.” He raises his uninjured hand and taps the end of my nose. “Stop worrying about shit you can’t do anything about. The past is the past. It’s done. You wish you would’ve opened the letter; I wish I never would’ve let you get on that plane in New Orleans. Neither of us can do a damn thing about it now.” The corners of his eyes crinkle up with a tenderness I’ve never seen. “And maybe this is how it had to happen. Maybe we had to know how shitty it was to be apart to appreciate how great it is when we’re together. Maybe this is exactly how our story is supposed to play out.”
The dichotomy of his rough and tough outer appearance and his overwhelmingly gentle and affectionate demeanor when he’s with me is almost too much to handle when he says shit like that. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, like being wrapped in a blanket made with soft crushed velvet. One of those with the satiny hem around the edges.
“I would’ve preferred if our story left out the chapter where you face-plant into the ground and nearly scare me half to death with worry, Mr. Know-It-All.” I stick my tongue out at him as I grab another berry, this time popping it into my own mouth.
“But then you wouldn’t have ever thought you lost me, and honestly, that’s what the trigger was for you, right?” He cocks his eyebrow up at me, already knowing the answer. “I knew the day you left I was coming back for you. I knew you needed some time to work out whatever craziness that was going on in that stubborn brain of yours, and I needed to get my shit together and clean up a bunch of things I should’ve dealt with a long time ago. You weren’t the reason I fired Mercedes and hired Emmy Sue, but you ignited a flame under me to get my ass in gear and figure out which direction I want my life and my career to go in for the future.”
This is the part of the night I’ve been worried about this whole time. The big, scary word. Future.
Tilting my head back, I close my eyes and inhale a deep breath through my nose, hold it for a ten-count, blow it out through my mouth, and then open my lids. Everything has been so perfect since the moment I stepped foot into massage room number two yesterday afternoon, better than perfect, actually. I never in my wildest dreams thought any of this shit would ever happen to me. And I’m scared it’s all about to come to an abrupt ending.
“And what direction is that?” I ask timidly, keeping my gaze upward. “What’s next for the famous James ‘Mr. 501’ Levi?”
He shifts his weight to the left side so that he’s slightly angled toward my torso. “Dakota, look at me,” he commands softly. I can feel his eyes pleading with mine.
I don’t look. I’m too nervous to hear what he’s going to say. I don’t want a long-distance relationship, but I don’t want to be without him either. I want to stay just like this . . . forever.
“Dakota,” he repeats my name, this time with a tad more warning in his tone. “We have to talk about this at some point.”
Slowly, I lower my gaze to his and brace myself for the blow. I claimed he only bruised my heart the first time we said goodbye, but I know with full
certainty this time it’ll resemble the x-ray of his right arm. Battered and broken.
“So talk,” I croak through my suddenly dry throat, clinging on to my attitude, my last wall of self-defense.
Leaning forward, he presses his lips to the sensitive skin directly under my belly button then draws back a few inches and peers up at me. “This Thursday, I’m having day surgery on my arm and wrist here in Denver. They’re gonna go in and put some plates and screws in, nothing out of the ordinary. I’ve had this exact same surgery more times than I’d like to admit. I’ll wear a cast for about four to six weeks, and then once it comes off, I’ll start rehab. Rehabbing my shoulder from the dislocation will be the hardest part, and it normally takes a few months.”
He stops talking as he lowers his mouth, kissing just beneath the spot of the last one. The warmth of his breath trickles down between my legs and I have to force myself not to wiggle underneath him. He’s making it hard to concentrate on the seriousness of this conversation.
“Now, as you know, I’m staying with Gunner and Emmy Sue right now,” he picks up where he left off, “but I have to get the fuck out of there as soon as possible. They’re newlyweds and need their house to themselves; plus, we’re gonna want our own privacy for all of the things I have planned to do with you. So, that leaves me needing to find a place to stay somewhere around here at least for the next six months . . . or longer.”
“Around here?” I repeat, making sure I heard him correctly.
“Rhino is gonna rent my place in California and take care of it. It’s a great vacation house on Big Bear Lake that I want to keep, but not live in any longer.” Grinning, he kisses even lower, allowing his mouth to linger a couple of extra seconds. “And I hear there’s this really cool-ass chick that likes Marvel superheroes and guys who ride dirt bikes that lives around here. She may have something to do with my wanting to relocate too.”
