When he fired up the engine and was ready to pull away from the curb, a dark sedan slowed as it neared my house from the opposite direction.
“Fuck, get down.” Nova’s hand whipped out and pushed on the top of my head until my face was between my knees. “Stay just like that until I tell you it’s safe.”
I wrapped my arms around my calves and bit my bottom lip to stop myself from crying. We drove like that for about five minutes before Nova finally said, “You can sit back up now. He didn’t follow us, so he must not have seen you before he pulled up.”
I didn’t notice the car as we crossed the street, and he’d scanned the area before letting me come out in the open. The car must have turned into my road off the street a block away. “Who was it?”
“The Ukrainians have been driving by your house every two hours. I should’ve had plenty of time to grab you between rounds, but something must’ve happened on their end to change up the intervals.” His dark gaze slid toward me. “If I had to guess, they were thinking about making a grab for you soon, too.”
“Probably because my stepdad is trying to negotiate for an extra payment beyond what he already owes the Ukrainians. Apparently, virgins are worth a crap ton of money on the black market.”
Who blurted out their lack of sex life to the hot guy they’d fantasized about—and who they were absolutely not going to do anything with no matter how much they wanted? This girl right here, folks.
5
Nova
My hands tightened on the steering wheel, gripping it so hard my knuckles were white. I’d known Rylee was a virgin the minute I laid eyes on her sweet, innocent body. But hearing her say it out loud put me on the verge of coming in my fucking jeans.
She was mine. I’d already accepted that. But knowing I would be her first, her only, made my feelings of possession roar to life in a way I’d never imagined. I suddenly realized—even though it wouldn’t happen in a million fucking years—that I owed my brothers an apology for giving them shit about the way they acted with their women.
If anyone so much as touched my girl, they would lose a fucking hand.
“No one else will ever touch you, angel,” I reassured her. I had attempted to use a soothing tone, but it came out gritty because my jaw was clenched tight. Pulling over and fucking her in my Mustang would be hot as fuck—and we would definitely be doing it someday—but a quick fuck in the back of a car for her first time would make me a callous son of a bitch, and she’d probably hate me forever. Not to mention that she’d known me for all of ten minutes.
I drew in a deep breath and yelled at my cock to simmer the fuck down.
“Thank you,” Rylee whispered. “I don’t know what I would’ve done if you hadn’t come to save me.”
I shuddered at the thought of what her future would have looked like and reminded myself a few times that she was with me and safe.
“No problem,” I said, shooting a crooked smile her way.
She responded as I’d hoped, returning my smile and relaxing into her seat.
I waited until we were in the next town to pull into a gas station. “Wait here, angel,” I told her as I climbed out of the car. While I filled the gas tank, my eyes constantly swept our surroundings, making sure we hadn’t been followed.
After I finished and was back in the driver’s seat, I started the car and shifted my manual transmission into first gear, but before I took my foot off the brake, Rylee’s hand landed on my thigh.
My body tensed, and my dick—which had softened a minute amount—hardened to the point where my zipper was scraping the sensitive skin. I winced, and Rylee immediately snatched her hand back, folding it in her lap as her cheeks burned red. Shit. I didn’t know how to explain that it hadn’t been her touch that made me wince without drawing her attention to the massive bulge in my pants.
Fuck it.
I grabbed her hand and set it over my crotch. “That wasn’t because I didn’t like your touch, angel. More like, it’s the opposite. My cock is trying to burst through my zipper to get to you.”
Rylee’s eyes grew big and round as her blush deepened. “Me?”
I winked and chuckled as I returned her hand to my thigh. “Yeah, Rylee. You.” Her expression shifted, appearing a little dubious before she glanced down, trying to hide it.
Before I could ask her why she didn’t believe me, she changed the subject and mumbled, “You said I could drive from the gas station?” Her voice was so hesitant, it came out like a question.
“Sorry, angel. Should’ve told you. I decided to drive while we’re in town in case we need to lose a tail.” I shifted into gear and headed out of the parking lot before adding, “Figured you’d be less likely to strip my gears on the open road too.”
Rylee huffed, and a quick glance at her face showed her frowning indignantly. “I can handle a stick,” she growled. It was cute as hell.
I gave her a heated look and a smirk. “I have no doubt you can handle my stick, angel.”
Her face turned pink again, and she opened her mouth to reply. Apparently, she’d been struck speechless because she snapped it shut and faced forward.
It took a lot of effort not to laugh, but I didn’t want to hurt her feelings, so I didn’t tease her any further. “What do you want to eat?” I asked instead.
She shrugged. “I like everything.”
I didn’t argue with her until she picked a place because I wanted to get on the road quickly. So I pulled into the next twenty-four-hour burger joint I saw and ordered. They brought the food out fast, and we were back on the road in less than fifteen minutes.
Rylee bit into her burger and exhaled with a little moan.
Shit. I shifted in my seat a few times, trying to find a comfortable position, but the steel rod in my jeans didn’t make it easy. When she made the same sound again, I bit back a groan.
Not in the fucking car, Rossi. She deserves better, I reminded myself several times.
I nearly sighed with relief when she polished off her burger, but then she started in on the fries, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to eat my meal.
“Are you going to eat?” she asked softly after a few minutes.
“Not really hungry...for food. I’ll eat later.”
In my peripheral vision, I saw her head tilt to the side and study me for a moment. My innocent little angel was probably trying to figure out why my words had been loaded with tension. “Um, okay.”
I cleared my throat and moved around again. Trying to take my mind off her gorgeous body and all the things I planned to eat off it eventually, I asked, “Were you headed to college before all this?” I wanted to know what I would be dealing with once I made it perfectly clear to her that I wasn’t letting her go.
“Yeah, I was,” she said, though her tone lacked all enthusiasm.
“To get away?” I speculated on a hunch.
After a few beats, she nodded. “I just graduated high school. I don’t exactly have any skills. College seemed like the only option.”
“What were you going to study?”
She shrugged as she stared out the window, watching the scenery as it turned into fields rather than stores and subdivisions. “I hadn’t thought that far ahead.”
The town was well behind us now, so I downshifted and slowly pulled to the side of the road. “Your turn, angel.”
Her face lit up, and she scrambled out of the car, making me laugh.
Once we’d switched places and were firmly belted in, I started explaining, praying she’d take to it easily and not destroy my transmission. “That’s the clutch, that’s the brake. I put the car in neutral, so you can shift into first gear now. Good. Now take your foot off the brake. Okay, slowly ease off the clutch and apply pressure to the accelerator.”
Rylee followed my instructions beautifully, and I breathed a sigh of relief when she shifted into second gear without grinding or killing the car. “Now, shift gears as you gain speed. Around every fifteen—holy shit!”
I slammed back into my seat as Rylee hit the accelerator and took off like a bat out of hell. I started to yell for her to slow down, but she shifted gears smoothly as if she’d been doing it all her life. We hit a sharp bend in the road, and she maneuvered it with complete ease.
My jaw had dropped in shock, but the rest of me was on fire. Watching her handle my car with such finesse was hot as fuck. “Where did you learn to drive like this?”
Rylee threw me a beaming smile. “My dad taught me. He thought everyone should learn manual before automatic. Plus, I wanted to be able to drive the cars we fixed up.”
“Fixed up?” Arya had mentioned that Rylee liked classic cars and went to shows, but I hadn’t realized she’d helped build them.
“Yep.” She continued telling me about the projects she worked on with her dad, and an idea began to form in my head. It would work perfectly with my plans to marry her and knock her up as soon as possible.
After about an hour, she yawned, and I told her to pull over so we could switch back. She had to be exhausted after being woken in the middle of the night, plus the adrenaline had long worn off.
“Sleep, angel. We’ll probably be there when you wake up.”
“But—”
“Sleep,” I demanded sternly. “You need to rest because you’re gonna need your energy later.”
She looked at me curiously, but I just left it at that. I reached across her and pulled the lever to recline her seat. She was out in minutes.
6
Rylee
The passenger seat of Nova’s car wasn’t the most comfortable place to sleep, but I felt safer with him than I had since my dad died, which made up for the inconvenience of using my seat belt as a pillow. I didn’t wake up until he gently shook my shoulder right before he pulled through the gate at the club’s compound. “Wow, I guess I was more tired than I thought. I hope I didn’t snore or anything.”
“You might’ve let out a few sleepy snorts.” Nova’s dark eyes crinkled at the edges as he flashed me a grin. “But they were adorable as fuck.”
Deciding that it wouldn’t do me any good to be embarrassed, I smiled back at him and snapped the strap of my seat belt. “At least I didn’t drool all over this. It would’ve sucked if you had to hunt down a new one because I left stains all over the material while using it for a pillow.”
“Nah, the sacrifice would’ve been worth it. It was important for you to rest.”
This was the second time he mentioned me needing to rest. I wasn’t sure what that was all about, but I didn’t get the chance to ask about it before he parked next to a row of motorcycles in front of a big building. A couple of guys walked over, jerking their chins in greeting at Nova when he climbed out of the car. I was slow to follow, and Nova had already rounded the front of the car to open my door for me by the time I undid my seat belt and reached for the handle. Sliding my palm against his, I smiled up at him. “Thanks.”
He crowded me toward the back end of the car before flinging open the back door to reach inside for our bags. Gathering the straps in one hand, he hefted them out, shut the door, and slid his other arm around my shoulder.
“She the babysitting job?” one of the guys asked after letting out a long whistle of appreciation.
Nova angled us so he was blocking me from their view as he grunted, “Yup.”
Babysitting job? It was good to know where I stood with him, just in case my vagina forgot that nothing was going to happen between us.
“You going to introduce us?” the other guy asked.
Nova tugged me close. “Nope.”
“C’mon, man,” the first guy complained. “You don’t have to be a dick just because you were stuck driving the ’Stang instead of your bike.”
“Give him a break. You know he doesn’t like taking her on road trips,” the second guy grunted.
I peeked around Nova’s side. “Why not? She handles beautifully on the open road.”
Both guys' eyes widened, but it was the first one who said, “Whoa. Hold up. He let you drive the Mustang?”
I rolled my eyes at the outrage in his tone. Seriously, what was it with guys and thinking that girls couldn’t drive a stick?
Arching my brow and lifting my chin, I chirped, “Yup.”
The second guy turned toward the first and muttered, “Another one bites the dust.”
“What in the—”
“Ignore them. I plan to,” Nova advised as he started to guide me toward the building.
“Okey dokey then,” I mumbled.
His low chuckle sent shivers down my spine, and I was still trying to shake them off when we walked inside. I hadn’t been sure what to expect since I’d never been inside an MC clubhouse before, but what I could see of the huge open room was much cleaner than I would’ve thought. The long bar to the left of me definitely fit with the picture in my imagination, even with Arya sitting on a stool holding her son.
“Rylee, you’re here!” she squealed, bouncing in her seat a little.
Ducking out of Nova’s hold, I rushed over and reached out to lift the adorable baby boy out of my friend’s arms. “Ooh, gimme.”
She laughed and shook her head. “I should’ve known you’d make a beeline for Grady without even saying hi to me. You’ve always been baby crazy.”
“How could I not fall head over heels for this little guy?” I cooed as I stared down into his precious little face. “He got his momma’s dark hair and his daddy’s green eyes. It’s a killer combination. The girls are going to follow him around like lost little puppy dogs when he grows up.”
“Over my dead body,” she muttered, sliding off the stool.
“Don’t even joke about shit like that,” Dax growled as he prowled toward us, aiming a glare at Nova. “Quit giving my woman a hard time.”
“She was my sister before she was your old lady,” Nova shot back, crossing his arms over his chest. “And I haven’t even had a chance to say a word to her yet.”
Dax’s gaze softened when he reached Arya’s side, sliding a finger under her chin to tilt her head back. “What’s got you all worked up, baby?”
“Our son isn’t allowed to date until he’s at least twenty,” Arya announced with a stubborn glint in her eyes.
Dax chuckled and shook his head. “You sound like I did when you kept trying to tell me we were gonna have a girl.”
“That’s my fault.” I rocked Grady from side to side when he stirred in my arms. “I made the mistake of pointing out how gorgeous your son is going to be when he grows up.”
“Ahh, gotcha.” Dax threw his arm around Arya and pulled her against his side. “Do me a favor and try to limit how often you get her all riled up. I’d hate for her to be cranky the entire time you’re with us.”
“Cranky?”
“With you?”
The siblings’ questions were said in unison, making me laugh. Dax brushed a kiss against the top of Arya’s head before turning to Nova. “Yeah, we drove over to give Rylee a ride back to our place.”
“That’s not gonna happen,” Nova growled with a sharp shake of his head. “Mac put me in charge of her safety. Not you.”
Dax waved off his argument. “Your sister thought Rylee would be more comfortable staying with us since they’re friends. I just finished talking to Mac, and he was fine with the change of plans as long as the girls stick close to home.”
“Which totally won’t be a problem since we’re still being careful about where we take Grady since he’s so young. It won’t be a hardship to hang out with Rylee here or at our house,” Arya added as she leaned forward to stroke her finger down her sleeping son’s cheek.
“Need I remind you that the Ukrainian mob is after Rylee?” Nova growled. “You don’t need that kind of complication right now.”
“You saying I can’t keep my wife and son safe?”
“Oh, for crying out loud,” Arya muttered, moving between the two men and spreading her arms to press her palms against their chests. “Get over yourse
lves, guys. This isn’t about your male egos. It’s about keeping Rylee out of the hands of the guys who’re trying to buy her from her jerk of a stepdad.”
Nova held his hands up in a gesture of surrender. “I’m just saying that it makes more sense for me to be the one who looks after Rylee. Staying at the compound provides better protection, and that’ll be tough to do with Grady since he isn’t anywhere close to sleeping through the night yet.”
I was super confused by how much of a fight Nova was putting up over where I stayed after what he’d said to those guys outside. Snuggling Grady close, I glared up at him. “You should be glad to hand me off to Dax and Arya. I’m just a babysitting job, remember?”
“Oh, shit,” Dax murmured.
Arya's eyes sparkled as she poked her brother in the chest. “You totally deserve whatever she dishes out for saying stupid stuff.”
“Patriot was the one who called her a babysitting job,” Nova growled, dropping the duffel bags on the floor before reaching down to take Grady from my arms.
He placed a sweet kiss on the baby’s head, and I tried to think about ice while my ovaries melted. When he handed his nephew to Dax, some of the lustful fog disappeared, and I argued, “And you agreed, which is basically the same thing as saying it yourself.”
“Not even close, angel.” Nova bent down to pick the bags back up and then surprised the heck out of me by pressing his shoulder against my stomach to toss me over his shoulder.
“Did he just call her angel?” Arya whispered as I tried to catch my breath while I grabbed the loops on his jeans for balance.
Dax nodded, holding his hand out to her. “Looks to me like your brother has everything under control here. Let’s get our boy home before he wakes up hungry.”
My eyes widened even more as I wheezed, “Hello, I’m being manhandled over here.”
Nova: Silver Saints MC Page 3