by Jane Slate
“No one.”
At just shy of twenty-four, Stella was every bit as independent and opinionated as she had been in her formative teen years. She also had a pension for anything and everything old. Antique hunting was her passion and she could spot something vintage from a mile away. Hell, even her car, a bright red 1976 Firebird, was old. She was beautiful and unique, with clothing from decades passed, a large collection of vinyl records and an ear for classic rock.
If Stella had a problem with you, chances were, you would know it. The once-shy but recently free-spirited brunette had never been one to bite her tongue, even in her dorky high school days. Her snark was no secret to anyone who knew her, but they stuck around anyway. It was just the way she was, take it or leave it. Her entire life, she had hid behind a thinly coated exterior of wittiness and musical know-how, but deep down she had always been an old soul. It was a trait she had inherited from her father.
Stella finished the last of her beer and tossed the glass bottle into a pile of similar ones on the ground. She swayed her hips from side to side and walked towards her Firebird, which had been given to her as a reward for her admittance into medical school.
“I’ll be right back,” Stella called out to Mel.
A lump of nervousness formed in her throat. She could still feel Kade staring at her and part of her hoped he would follow her. She reached into an open ice chest beside her car and grabbed another beer, popping the seal and taking a long drink in an attempt to fight off the anxiousness she felt brewing inside of her.
Never in her life had Stella been so brash with a man, especially not one like Kade
A voice caught her off guard and an awful, fluttery feeling surfaced in the pit of her stomach.
Kade.
She turned to face him and there he was. Glassy eyed with a beer in hand, shirtless but for a leather cut that hung effortlessly from his body, and snickering. He was perfect in a way that made women jealous.
“Well damn,” he said with a laugh.
“You sure know how to drink.”
When he spoke, he looked at Stella as though she was the only person at the bonfire—the only person in the world. Her cheeks flushed of color as his large frame towered over her much smaller one. She pulled herself onto the hood of her car and willed herself to say something. Anything. But flirtation had never been her strong point.
“Maybe,” Stella finally answered.
“What’s it to you?”
Shit.
That just sounded rude.
Kade snickered and raised his eyebrows.
“Mind if I...”
He waved a hand to where Stella was sitting on the hood of her car.
“Yeah. Sure.”
Stella answered a little too quickly and shifted to make room for Kade. He sat down beside her and their legs touched. Stella could feel her heart thumping heavy in her chest. If it wasn’t for the music, she might have worried that he could hear it too.
Kade nodded at Mel, who was pressed against a man Stella didn’t recognize.
At least she seemed to be loosening up...
“She your sister?”
Stella shook her head, running a sweaty hand through her hair, which was starting to frizz from the humidity.
“No I mean, not by blood.”
She took another drink of her beer.
“We’re close though.”
Kade was silent for a few moments before speaking. He looked over at Stella and made eye contact with her for one brief, electrifying moment.
“I think I remember you two from high school.”
“We were in classes together weren’t we?”
Stella nodded. She didn’t comment on the fact that they had known each other long before that. Before she could craft a response, Kade closed the distance between them and reached for Stella’s hand, intertwining her small fingers with his much larger ones. Stella stared at him with wide eyes, completely taken off guard and unsure of how to react. A redness flooded over her cheeks and neck that evoked a smirk from Kade.
It wasn’t the first time he had this kind of effect on a woman, but it was certainly the first time Stella had experienced it firsthand.
Was this some kind of joke?
Stella’s breath caught in her throat and her body tensed, both involuntary reactions to being touched.
“What are you doing?” she whispered.
Kade smiled and looked at her sideways.
“Come hang out with me.”
There was a sense of urgency in his tone. Stella swallowed hard and started to object but Kade brought a calloused finger to her mouth. He nodded once more at Mel, who had her slender arms wrapped around the neck of a man twice her size.
That was a first...
“See that guy?” Kade questioned.
“That’s my brother Maddox. He’ll see to it that your friend makes it home just fine.”
Stella didn’t look entirely convinced.
“I don’t know...”
Her voice faltered. She could tell Kade was past the point of objections. He stood up and lifted Stella off the hood of her car and onto the ground. She stumbled and fell against his chest, which caused her cheeks to redden even further.
“Hey.”
Stella looked at Kade as a sense of nervousness flooded through her. She knew what he was trying to do but she wasn’t sure if she was prepared to be just another notch on his bedpost. He lifted her chin so that they were staring into each other’s eyes.
The idea of being with Kade in that way made Stella squirm with anxiousness. They were standing so close together that she could practically feel Kade’s breath on her face. She leaned in closer to him, feeling his body tense as he whispered into her ear.
“I promise you won’t regret it.”
Stella shivered.
The scent of honey and lavender filled Kade’s nostrils as he caught a whiff of her hair.
“I don’t know if you could handle me,” she said with a smile.
Kade snickered. Hearing her say those words nearly sent him over the edge, and the closer Stella got to him, the more intrigued he was. She pressed a tiny hand against his chest to regain her footing in the grass and looked up at him, daring him to make the next move. Her touch made everything around him melt away.
He had never met a woman who could to that to him so effortlessly.
Flirtation was heavy in Kade’s tone. Not waiting for a response, he reached for Stella’s hand and led her towards his Bonneville, starting up the engine with a loud clunk. He slid onto the leather seat, waving for her to climb on behind him.
Stella hesitated, looking briefly over at Mel, who was still distracted (even giggling!) in Maddox’s presence. Still, there was something about Kade that had never ceased to give her butterflies. She couldn’t imagine passing up the opportunity to be with him...even just once.
“I don’t know...”
Kade sighed, exaggerating. He flashed Stella a mischievous smile.
“Come on.”
“I don’t bite.”
Stella relented, clumsily climbing onto the seat behind him. She wrapped her arms around his center, feeling the bikes engine shake beneath her as he turned onto the dirt road behind them.
Stella’s hair blew in the wind as Kade picked up speed. There was something freeing about the way the breeze felt against her neck. Usually, the sensation bothered her, but riding with Kade was different from the aggressive experience that was riding with her father.
Kade found a way to own the road. He made it his.
For what felt like an eternity, they drove, pulling onto one dirt road after another. They passed signs that warned them not to trespass before they pushed through a gap in the trees and approached a sign welcoming them into the town of Falls Creek.
Population, approximately 5205. Give or take.
Kade rolled to a stop in front of a desolate looking building and cut the bikes engine, pushing the kickstand out. Stella placed her hands o
n his back to steady herself as she climbed off. They stood for a while and admired the scenery. It was a nice night. Stars illuminated the sky and lightning bugs blinked around them.
Stella sighed. She had a love/hate relationship with Falls Creek. One moment, leaving would seem like the most practical option and the only thing she could think to do was pack her bags and craft a new identity elsewhere. The next, she was head over heels for the place, incapable of imagining her life outside of it. Right now, standing beside Kade in the moonlight, she was experiencing the latter.
Kade lit a smoke and shifted on his feet.
“This place is beautiful.”
Stella nodded.
“Yeah. Objectively.”
Kade stared at her sideways, cocking an eyebrow.
“Objectively?”
Stella shrugged, waving a hand over a hill that framed a perfect view of Falls Creek in its entirety.
“Yeah. I mean, from here, you can hardly see the drama.”
Kade laughed.
“So,” Stella spoke up, changing the subject.
“Is this your spot?”
“The place you bring all your girls?”
Kade shook his head and cracked his neck.
“No ma’am. You would be the first.”
It wasn’t even a lie.
Most of the women Kade courted ended up right in his bed. They never grabbed a drink or went to dinner or talked about existential shit. This, already, was new to him.
Stella chuckled.
“That’s hard to believe.”
Kade shrugged and ashed his smoke.
“Well it’s true. You should feel special.”
Special.
It was a concept Stella had never felt familiar with. Without another word, Kade reached for her hand, sending an electric shock throughout her body.
“So tell me something,” Kade spoke up, breaking the silence.
“What brought you out tonight? I don’t remember seeing you at other bonfires...”
Stella arched a brow and giggled.
“You’ve been keeping tabs?”
Kade shook his head.
“Nah. I just know my crowd, that’s all.”
“I see,” Stella answered.
“I’m just trying to be more social, you know. It’s summer. Kind of a time for change.”
Kade nodded and let go of her hand as he flicked the butt of his smoke.
“You seem like a smart girl,” he noted.
Stella shrugged, feeling a blush creep across her cheeks. She had never been around a man that made her feel so validated. Still—she knew the reputation Kade had around Falls Creek, especially with women, and it wasn’t a good one.
“I try to be.”
A nagging voice in the back of Stella’s mind told her that there was no possible way Kade Colton, of all people, could share her feelings. She felt his hand rub across her cheek and shivered, turning her back so that she was facing away from him. He took a step forward, closing the distance between them until their bodies were touching and their faces were only a few inches apart.
Stella moaned softly. Kade lifted her chin and hesitated with his lips parted.
“What are you doing?”
Stella’s voice was hoarse and strained. She tried to pull away but Kade tightened his grasp on her waist, making it difficult. His tongue darted out from between his lips. Stella held her breath and awaited his next move.
Control.
Kade had always had it, but Stella was certainly giving him a run for his money. He roamed his hands down her body, urging her to give in. The sound of someone exiting the bar tore him away from her. Stella giggled at the bulge that had sprung to life in his pants and shifted her gaze from his.
Kade nodded at two leather clad men who had parked in front of the bar, exchanging greetings with them. As they entered the bar, Stella caught a glimpse of the worn in patches that adorned the back of their cuts. They were Sons. Kade reached for her hand and pulled her towards the door.
“Come on.”
In that moment, something came over Stella.
The eerie sensation that her life would never quite be the same as it was before Kade Colton had stumbled back into it.
Chapter Two
Like with every great romance, it started with a drink. And that drink led to another, and before either of them knew what was happening, they were knee-deep in vitriolic stories of their upbringings. Stella told Kade that she loved the club she was raised in but hated how much it had worn on her father. That she was going to school to become a doctor. And after three shots of tequila and a momentary lapse of silence, Kade began to talk about his mother. The one subject Stella was sure he would never breach.
“Do you miss her?”
It was a stupid question. Of course he did. But the words had surfaced from her throat before she could stop them. She couldn’t help it. She felt lightheaded and relaxed in the presence of the man she had once felt so nervous around. The wheels of conversation had been greased and she couldn’t find it in herself to feel silly for asking.
Kade nodded and took a long drink of his beer, surveying the half-empty bar.
“Yeah.”
“I think about her every day.”
He washed down the statement with a shot and lost himself in his thoughts. Stella could see that he was lonely. He had told her early on in their discussion that he felt like he had focused too much of his life on doing and saying the things he felt like he had to.
Fighting men who so much as looked at him the wrong way amplified his tough guy image. Sleeping with women whose names he never seemed capable of remembering reminded everyone of what a ladies man he was. And straddling the seat of a bike...well. That made his father proud.
All those things made Kade who he was—at least on the surface.
The bartender informed them that it was closing time and Kade slapped a crumpled twenty on the counter, sliding on his leather cut and reaching for Stella’s hand.
And so it went.
They walked outside together. Kade held the door open for Stella and when she passed him, something came over her. An uncharted feeling quite unlike anything she had ever felt. As Kade’s hand grazed hers, she made an impulsive move and angled her face so that it was a few inches away from his, tempting him to kiss her.
Intoxication engulfed them as their tongues tangled. It was messy and spur of the moment and more than anything, it felt right. When Stella finally broke the kiss, she was breathless and incapable of speaking in full sentences. Kade stroked a hand over her face as she exhaled a deep breath.
“Wow...”
Like with all decisions made in the haste and fueled by lust, neither party made a wise decision. Or maybe they did, depending how you looked at it. Either way, what was done was done. In the desolate bar parking lot a few feet away from Kade’s bike, they did the awkward dance so many had done before them.
“Do you want to go home or should I take you back to your car...”
Kade’s question lingered in the air. He seemed all too aware of the answer. Stella shook her head and indulged him. The drive back to his place was a short one, which she was grateful for. Neither one of them were in any position to drive. Aside from their obvious lack of sobriety, their attention was elsewhere.
Stella pressed her head against Kade’s back and explored his muscular chest with eager hands. It wasn’t the behavior of a virgin, but that little tidbit wasn’t something she had any intention of mentioning. All it ever did was scare men away.
Not that Kade was most men.
Then came the parking and the fumbling of keys at the front door as lips and fingers clashed. Kade’s shirt was the first piece of fabric to come off as the door opened. The pair tumbled inside the dark trailer in a frenzy driven by passion and vulnerability. With a trained hand, Kade reached for the light switch beside the door. Stella pulled him back, not wanting to interrupt the veil of night.
There was something abo
ut it that she found comforting. Romantic even.
They did a clumsy waltz into Kade’s bedroom, bumping into furniture as their drunkenness settled in, mixing with sheer need. Stella was shoved onto an unmade bed in the center of the dimly lit room as Kade pounced on top of her in a predatory straddle.
In the darkness it was hard to tell who went in for the kiss first. The last of their clothing was stripped off as teeth bumped together and tongues danced. A hot breath escaped the corners of Stella’s mouth as she moaned. In the diffused moonlight that soaked through the blinds hanging in the window behind them, the details in their sweat-covered flesh emerged.
Their naked forms moved synchronously. Fingernails dug into flesh. Hot breath grazed along flushed cheeks and strained necks. It was almost animalistic in nature; the way their legs twisted and their hips clashed. Thunder boomed outside as heavy raindrops began to fall against the window, but their moans overpowered the noise, eventually dissolving it entirely.
It came to a sudden end with a tight squeeze, a grunt, and a sudden wave of warmth that flooded through them both, followed by a long exhale. When their heads had stopped pounding, they embraced in a sweaty, breathless heap.
After sharing a post-coital cigarette, grogginess pulled at them as it often did, and they drifted into it an alcohol and pleasure induced slumber.
Morning came and with it, clarity. Stella’s eyelids fluttered open. She sat up and focused her pupils, wiping the sleep from her eyes as she attempted to regain hold of her surroundings. The realization of who was lying beside her made her suck in a sharp breath. Her body was intertwined with Kade’s and one of his arms was tucked around Stella’s waist.
Her kneejerk reaction was to run, to scramble for her clothing and leave before he awoke. Instead, she remained still, frozen by the reminder of barriers they had already crossed. Her face flushed red as she carefully shifted under his weight, feeling the taut lines of his chest as he turned in his sleep.
Shit.
Kade’s skin was warm to the touch and it distracted Stella from her main goal, which was to escape. She forced herself to concentrate as she detangled her body from his. When she was finally free, she stretched, basking in the yellow light that splashed in through creases in his blinds. She examined Kade’s sleeping form, tracing her chipped fingernails over the mirage of scars on his back as his chest rose and fell.
