Her Wild Ride: An addictive, steamy biker MC romance suspense novel

by Van Fleet, Heather

  “The night I was shot,” he continued. “I decided that I wanted to go back to Illinois. Try to make things right with the club.”

  My lips made a tiny O, but I couldn’t figure out exactly how his words made me feel. Relieved wasn’t the right thought, mainly because his old world seemed so incredibly dangerous. But I also couldn’t deny how my heart skipped a few beats at the thought of him coming home, being close to me all the time. It was a thought I’d entertained far more often than not over the last week.

  “I was getting ready to come back and tell you, but that didn’t work out.”

  “Obviously.” I snorted.

  Using his good arm, he let go of my hand and pinched my chin with his thumb and forefinger. “You gonna let me finish?”

  I folded my arms, not trusting myself to keep distance between us. “I’m listening.”

  “Like you pointed out,” he grumbled, dropping his hand away. “I couldn’t come back to the hotel. But in the hospital, when I woke up, I realized something else.”

  “What’s that?” I asked, remembering the exact moment when the nurse had come in and told me he was going to be okay. It was ten minutes after I’d met Maya.

  I’d been crying when she found me there. And the second I looked at her, there was a connection between us, one I could only describe as a mutual affection for a man that was only meant for one of us.

  “I didn’t want to go back home till I finished this trip with you.”

  I spread my arms out, feeling my throat swell, refusing to think beyond just his words. He didn’t mean anything by it. He was just being Niyol.

  “Well, we’re here now. Can we go?”

  “You are so damn stubborn, you know that?”

  There wasn’t any malice in his words. And the smirk on his face proved just how crazy relaxed he was. I, on the other hand, felt like I was walking on a tightrope, no restraints attached.

  “No. Getting you here was only half my plan.”

  “Plan?” My lips twisted. I wanted to be angry. Angry because he’d wasted my time and money on the remaining part of this trip because he was too chicken to fly on a plane. Too prideful to take a bus or train either.

  “Yeah. This moment, telling you the truth, was the second half of my reason for wanting you to finish this with me.”

  “Then tell me the rest,” I barked angrily. “Because if this is some spiel about it’s been fun messing around with you, but I need space, then fine. Take your space, Niyol. Take it all.”

  “Stop it.” He reached up and squeezed my elbow. “Please. You need to hear me out. Please.” His voice held a tinge of desperation to it that I couldn’t ignore. Which was exactly why I decided to hear him out. Desperate Niyol was about as appealing as sexy Niyol because he was actually real in that moment. Vulnerable, too.

  I nodded, because speaking would hurt my already clogged throat.

  “That night in your truck at the campground? When you were telling me about your mom and that bracelet? I was listening, Princess.”

  My chest squeezed tight at the thought of him remembering something so small, even if it meant the world to me. “What about it?”

  “You wanted to come here, for your mom.” He reached over and grabbed my bracelet, fingering the tiny shell.

  My eyes welled with tears at the simple touch, his simple thoughts, his simple reasons. “You wanted to finish this trip with me because I wanted to see the Pacific Ocean?”

  “Yeah. I wanted to give you this…” He lifted his good hand and pointed out at the ocean behind me, a boyish smile on his face. Then he reached over and touched my bracelet again. “…for this. Your mom.”

  I blinked, the warmth of my tears falling down my cheeks.

  His face paled a little, brows furrowed in confusion, maybe fear too. “Shit. Did you not want to? I thought…”

  I shook my head, then touched my mouth, lips shaking beneath the tips of my fingers. Words were robbed from my throat, but the tears falling couldn’t be stopped. Niyol didn’t want to finish the trip for himself. For Maya neither. Nor did he want to finish for a chance at a new life. He wanted to finish so I could see the Pacific for the first time, so I could try and connect with a woman I’d never known but would always love.

  My mom.

  I stepped even closer, our thighs brushing. Then I swatted his chest like one of the middle-school girls at school when they wanted attention from a boy.

  “You are so stupid.”

  “Huh?” He jerked his head back, frowning.

  “You could still be in danger! You never know about those rogue people. There could be more laying low and waiting to strike.” And now I was starting to talk like him. Joy. “I didn’t need to see the ocean, Niyol. It was a want. Do you know the difference?”

  Though if that was the case, then why the hell was I blubbering?

  He shrugged and smiled, like everything I’d just brought forth was the lamest reason as to not do this.

  “Your differences between needs and wants are a hell of a lot different than mine.”

  My idiot heart stopped, restarting at a pace I couldn’t control. The thunder of my pulse echoed along with the splash of the ocean in my ears. Inches apart, I stared up into his eyes, my stomach swirling at the look inside. He grinned even wider, likely realizing he’d done an amazing thing, no matter how risky it had been. So as much as I wanted to berate him, I couldn’t find it in me to do anything but wrap my arms around him and hold him close.

  “You could’ve been happy without doing this,” I whispered, my cheek pressed to his chest. I was so thankful for this man in front of me. For his selflessness when I didn’t think he had it in him at all.

  “Hell no,” he kept going. “All my happiness and promises and future? They’re all connected to one thing now. And that’s you.”

  I leaned back enough to prop my chin onto his chest. “Me?” My voice quivered.

  His lips kicked up on one side. “Hell yeah.”

  I squeezed my eyes shut, none of this making sense. He was sealing me over like I was a cut that wouldn’t cease bleeding, sucking me all in with his emotions. That had to be it. When I stepped back, he must’ve seen the question in my eyes, because he kept going, like he had this entire speech planned out in his head.

  The paper in his hands from the car? I blinked the thought away. No. It couldn’t be.

  “I knew things were changing the day I met you at that diner. Then, at your grandparents’ house, up in that bedroom when I nearly kissed you…” He shut his eyes, almost like he was reliving the experience. “It’s like… Shit, I wanted nothing more than to make a life with you happen. I just wasn’t sure how to go about doin’ it.”

  “Niyol,” I whispered, pressing my palms to his face. “Look at me.” He opened his eyes, the dark pools nearly scorching. “Of course you were bound to feel something for me when we went through all of the things we did. This entire trip was fueled with adrenaline-packed emotions. It’s not… healthy. You and me? We wouldn’t make it in the real world. We’re too different.”

  It hurt to say the truth, but the speech I’d told myself just hours before was the right one, even if I didn’t mean it. Even if I wanted to believe in everything he was telling me.

  “Stop. Right now.” He dragged his thumb in a slow circle on my cheek. “I’ve never felt what I do for you with anyone else. Ever. So don’t try to tell me it ain’t right, when we both know it is.”

  “W-we don’t even know each other.” I blinked, running out of excuses.

  “Sure we do. I know you better than you probably know yourself. We have a lotta games under our belt to prove it.”

  I rolled my eyes. “We played two games, Niyol. Two.”

  “And guess what, I won the first one, and you still owe me for it.”

  “What? No way. I—”

  “Don’t argue with me.” His hot breath washed over my face as he lowered his forehead back to mine. “I won by forfeit when you gave up.”
>
  “What does that have to do with anything?”

  “Simple.” He grinned, so slow, so dang sure of himself. “You owe me a favor.” He pulled back before I did, only to trace his finger down my neck, across my pulse point.

  “I want you, Summer. All of you. Nobody else. And my favor is for you to let all your excuses go and give us a chance.”

  My heart leapt into my throat. “Don’t play games with me. No more, Niyol. Please. I can’t handle it.”

  “No games.” He held his good hand out in front of him and pressed it against my heart. Then he leaned forward and kissed my temple, lingering there as he said, “You called Maya. You called Archer, too. When I was in the hospital, you could’ve taken off, left me. You could’ve abandoned me. But you didn’t.”

  I looked at my wet toes, remembering how awkward that had been. It had been an instinctive reaction, calling the two of them, one I would never regret. Niyol had people who loved him, regardless of what he thought. And those people had come through, proof that he wasn’t as alone as he assumed.

  “I wouldn’t leave you like that.”

  “I know.” He pulled away, cupping my face with one hand.

  In turn, I reached up and gripped the neck of his shirt, settling my wrist against his heartbeat. It thudded like a zillion racehorses were powering down inside, the fight to the end just seconds away.

  “Can’t you feel what you do to me? To my heart?” he whispered, lightly squeezing my wrist.

  “Yeah, I feel it.” It was the same thing he did to mine.

  “You are the one I need now, Summer.” He stroked a hand down the middle of my spine, his fingers taking their time. “You’re the new life I need.”

  “But that club… You’re going back.”

  “Yeah, I am. That gonna be a problem?”

  I thought about my answer, what I wanted to say, and how I felt about possibly dating a man who did illegal things for a living, even if he said he was going to try and change that club and turn it into something good. The problem was, Niyol was only one person. There was no way he could take all the bad away at once.

  Still, I didn’t say no because I couldn’t. I just wasn’t a woman who could spout off emotions at the drop of a hat, was the thing. I stuttered when I was nervous, cried when I was mad. My emotions were all over the place, never feeling the way they should in a moment like this. Granted, I’d never actually been in a moment like this before, not even with Landon. And it was scary and right and everything I didn’t know I wanted. But the question was, could I let him and his life into mine? Forgo all my fears and insecurities because of a five-day fling of chaos and high emotions?

  “Talk to me,” he pleaded.

  When I didn’t respond, he took a step back, tugged off his baseball cap, then ran his fingers through his hair, likely sensing my internal dilemma. “I get it. We’re different. You’re a-a teacher. I’m an ex-con. But this thing between us? It’s more fucking right than anything I’ve ever known in my life. You can’t deny it, Summer. Don’t try to.”

  I couldn’t. That was half of my problem. “I’m scared, Niyol.”

  Our eyes locked then, and the setting sun drifted through his long, dark locks. “If you’re scared, then it’s because you know it’s real. Us. You and me…” He pointed a finger between my chest and his. “Six years I thought I only wanted one woman. Then six days with you and I feel like my entire life’s been one fucked-up lie that led me to the only truth I’ve ever known.”

  “What truth is that?” I asked, throat burning.

  “You’re my truth.” He leaned forward and kissed one of my cheeks, then moved on to the next before he said, “You’re the only person that makes me not afraid to do what I need to do. Be who I need to be.” He kissed my nose. “You’re not some figment of my imagination, or a memory. You’re my reality, Summer. And I can’t run from reality, not when it’s got everything I’ve always wanted.”

  My eyes blurred through tears. “What are you saying exactly?”

  He grinned, lowering his mouth just inches from mine. “I’m saying that if you’re good with this, with us, then I’m gonna take you home with me, fix my relationships at the club. Then I’m gonna fix myself to be a prince who’s worthy of a princess.”

  I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at his cheesy line, but at the same time, my heart flipped, proving to me that this thing we had might be exactly what I needed too. I could still work on myself as a woman; venture into my career, find my place in the world, but at the same time, being with Niyol would also mean having someone who cared about me like I did them, without being their second.

  Really, though, what good had a straight-and-narrow path done for me in the long run anyway? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

  That’s when I made the best and scariest decision of my life.

  “Okay.” I smiled. “Okay, we can try.”

  “Really?” His eyes popped wide, bright pools of happiness I didn’t think his body could manufacture.

  I giggled at the expression, nodding once. “Yes. Really.” And that’s when I kissed him.

  Thirty-One

  Niyol

  I was on the verge of exploding right there in my fucking jeans and all she’d done was kiss me. But then the tide rose a bit, surrounding our knees, and soon we were falling, me tipping to the right, her coming straight at me with a squeal.

  Biggest. Cock-block. Ever.

  We both started laughing as we laid in the wet sand. Why? Hell if I knew. Maybe when you’re happy, even the shittiest of luck can be funny.

  “Holy crap, the water is cold.” Summer shivered at my side, fingers touching my stomach beneath my wet shirt.

  I yanked her up against me. Using my good hand, I stroked strands of wet hair from her face, watching as her lips curved into a smile. “You okay?”

  “Never been better.” She smiled at me. Fucking smiled so bright it lit up my world. Shit, I was turning into a nut case for this woman, and I didn’t give two shits how I looked or sounded either.

  My arm ached like a bitch, not to mention the salt was screwing with my road rash. But I couldn’t find it in me to care—not when Summer was there in my arms, agreeing to give me—us—a chance.

  “Mmm.” I moved in closer, gripping her hip. “I can think of a lotta ways to get us warm.” I nuzzled her neck and smiled against her skin, the water still splashing over our thighs.

  She shivered. “Oh yeah?”

  I nodded, grinning like a fool.

  As if a fire had begun building within me, my body started to come even more alive as I kissed her lips, her chin, her pulse. I wanted her naked. I wanted to be inside of her. I wanted to explore every single inch of her body.

  “I want you, Summer,” I whispered in her ear, pulling back, urging her to straddle my lap. She didn’t hesitate to press our shivering bodies close. Breathing her in, I dropped my mouth to hers and pulled her bottom lip between my teeth.

  Pain rocketed up my arm again, but I worked through it, loving when she slipped her chilled hands under my shirt and pressed them both against my bare stomach.

  “Do you want me?” I mumbled over her mouth, needing her yes.

  “So much.” She brushed her hand through the back of my hair, studying me, my favorite hat likely floating away.

  “We should go then,” I grinned.

  “Let’s.” She grinned back.

  I walked us to the hearse, stopping only once to grab her shoes. At the front bumper, I kept my free arm wrapped around her waist, unable to get close enough.

  “Today is my birthday, by the way.” Not sure why I felt the need to tell her. I hadn’t cared about my birthday for years.

  Her eyes widened. “Crap. I didn’t know. I’m so sorry.”

  I shrugged, sticking my hands into my pockets. “Not a big deal. Twenty-seven is just a number.”

  “Not a big deal? Are you serious? Of course it’s a big deal.” She muttered something under her breath. Eyes now narrowed, sh
e pointed to the passenger side door. “Get into the car.”

  I reached for her hand, pulling her to me, kissing her neck again. “What’s the matter?”

  She huffed, not answering as she stomped away toward the door, eyes downturned as she hopped into the driver’s seat.

  “Summer.” I jumped into the passenger side a few seconds later, fucking confused as hell. Was my age some sort of deal breaker for her? “What the hell’s wrong?” I reached over and touched her thigh as she typed in something on her phone. Seconds later we were peeling out of the lot.

  “It’s just…” She puckered her lips.

  “What? Just what?”

  “We need to celebrate while it’s still sort of light out. You have five more hours left.” As if mocking her, the sun lowered even more in the sky.

  I relaxed in my seat and laughed. This woman was nuts. And I was nuts about her.

  “That so?” I ran my hand over her thigh, inching my fingers close to her center. She slammed on the gas pedal in return, making me laugh even harder.

  Damn. I hadn’t felt so good in my entire fucking life.

  “It’s a well-known fact that sex during the day is a hell of a lot more fun than sex at night.” She slapped her hands against the steering wheel and we swerved once into the other lane to pass a truck.

  “We got lots of days to practice. No rush.”

  She rolled her eyes. Again. But stayed silent.

  Somewhere along the way she pulled into the parking lot of this tiny beachside motel. I didn’t want to question it, but the L on the sign was backward, and the group of pink flamingo statues sitting by the front door seemed to be having an orgy.

  Still. I didn’t care where we had sex, long as I had a woman to do it with.

  More specifically, this woman.

  Thirty-Two

  Summer

  As far as hotels went, this place was the crappiest of the crap. Still, it’d do the job, give us both what we wanted. And then when we got back home, Niyol and I would christen every bed sheet—every inch—of my apartment. Including my shower.