“Oh, God, Niyol.”
“I’m gonna be okay.”
She stroked the area around it, gentle in her Summer way.
“Almost even with the other side now.” I chuckled, but my thoughts were anything but humorous. More so wild with things I needed to say to her but couldn’t figure out how to.
Instead, I let her touch me, selfishly enjoying her care. Then I dropped my chin, praying she’d talk first.
“Do you know where they went?” was the first thing she asked. “Charles and…”
I squeezed my eyes shut, knowing who she meant. Pain burrowed itself inside my chest this time. “No.”
After undressing completely, I laid on the bed beside her, wishing I could tug her closer, but knowing my injury wouldn’t let me. Instead, I rolled onto my good side to face her and rubbed bits of her hair between my fingertips, the back of my hand grazing the space above her heart.
“She’s my mother, Summer. My fucking mother. And she’s left me. Twice.”
“I know.” She paused. “She told me at the cabin. I don’t know what to say other than I’m so, so sorry, Niyol.”
“Don’t be sorry. Not when I’ve dragged you into all this bullshit. You were scared already and then…” Fuck. I couldn’t even say it out loud.
Summer grabbed my hand and held it between both of hers under her chin. “The future is never certain, no matter who you’re with, what you do, or what’s in store. And knowing you could have died, twice now…?” She slowly shook her head. “I couldn’t lose you then, and I’m not gonna lose you now.”
“Even if it’s not gonna be ideal?”
Her nose scrunched up in that way I loved. “Ideal is a word I’m beginning to redefine.”
I chuckled, but at the same time, I also knew this was only just beginning. And whether she realized it or not, Pops would get even deeper revenge on me now.
A shiver raced through me. Summer tugged the blanket up and over my shoulder, probably thinking I was cold.
“Will you tell me what happened after I left?”
I nodded, starting from the second after I’d woken up from surgery, finding Lisa hovering over my bed. I told her everything, rehashing it out loud again. Getting it off my chest helped a little, but not a lot. I was confused and worried, pissed and frustrated. The only good I had in that moment was the woman in my bed listening like nothing else mattered but me. Not real sure how I’d survived this long without Summer in my life. But now that I had her, I wouldn’t know what to do without her.
“I had this vision of my mom in my head for so damn long. Then to find out that she’s been here all this time… Shit, I don’t know.” I rubbed a hand over my face, not realizing how bad they were shaking until Summer put her fingers on top and held them.
Minutes passed. I thought maybe she’d gone to sleep. But then she surprised me…
“Have you ever been in love before?” She studied me, her bottom lip pulled between her teeth.
I swallowed, nervous. Nobody had ever asked me that before. Thing of it was, I hadn’t been. Least not until her. Which was why I said, “Yeah.”
“Maya?” She bit her bottom lip.
I shook my head. “No Princess. Not Maya.”
Her eyes widened a little as I leaned over to kiss her just once on the lips.
Shivering against me, I felt her fingers graze my stomach. Slipping a leg over my thigh, Summer settled even closer, kissing my chest.
Summer knew exactly who I loved.
“Does it scare you?”
“Does what scare me?”
“The thought of someone like me loving you?”
She didn’t hesitate. “Nothing about you has ever scared me. You’ve always put on this big, tough guy act, but deep down, I know there’s a teddy bear inside.”
“Jesus, you really know how to make a man feel like a man.”
A giggle slipped out from between her lips. It was the first sound I’d heard her make at the diner where we’d met. A sound I’m damn sure was made only for me to hear.
“Look, Summer.” I leaned back and pressed my forehead to hers, breathing her in. “Nothing about my life is ever gonna be normal. You won’t get the white picket fence or the minivan. You’ll get barbed wire and a bike. So, if you don’t wanna be part of my world, I’m gonna give you an out. Right now.”
I sucked in a breath when she didn’t say yes right away.
“If I didn’t want to be here, I would go.”
Hope flickered in my chest. “But it’s only going to get worse. Your entire life is gonna change by being with me.”
And at this point, there was no telling what would happen. With the club, my father… Even if she didn’t want me, there’d forever be a target on her head. Pops didn’t take into account break-ups when it came to an RD old lady.
Like she knew what I was thinking, Summer slowly rolled me onto my back, crawled onto my lap, and laid her head on my good shoulder. She didn’t press into me hard, but I felt her deep inside still. Always would.
“I’m not going anywhere. We’re in this together now.”
My body relaxed, her words soothing; music to my ears that I’d never take for granted. “Okay.” I kissed the top of her head and stroked a hand over her spine.
We laid like that for a long while. I concentrated on her breath against my neck, the heat of it, the way her fingers made circles on my chest. Our bodies moved in sync as we inhaled, my eyes drifting closed with thoughts. Feelings. Needs.
Love.
I kissed her forehead once more, only for her to sit up. She stayed on my lap, legs straddled over my waist. Her fingers touched the blanket covering my legs, and I could easily see the wheels moving in her mind, see the tiny lines forming between her eyes as she frowned.
“You need to know something first. Before we make this official and all.”
I grinned, regardless of everything in my life. I think I liked that word: official. “What’s that?”
“I’m likely not cut out for this life you live.”
My world stopped spinning. Fuck, fuck, fuck. I knew this was all too good to be true. But I also understood where she was coming from.
“I get it.” I dropped my head to the left, looking out the window.
Summer grabbed my chin between her fingers and pulled my face back, eyes flashing with frustration. “Let me finish.”
“Go on then.” But it didn’t hurt any less.
“Good. Now, when I said I wasn’t cut out for this life, I meant it, but does that mean I’m not going to try to accept it? God, no. I just need you to know that it’s going to take me some time to adjust. Especially after everything that’s happened.” She drew in a breath. “I won’t live here with you yet, but that doesn’t mean I won’t maybe stay with you on the weekends, or on an occasional night during the weeks. We could be, like, a normal couple. Then once I get used to this… this biker life, we’ll talk again.”
“You wanna date me, Princess?”
A shy smiled covered her pretty lips. “Why wouldn’t we date? You and I didn’t exactly have a normal courtship to begin with.”
I tipped my head back and laughed. “You just said courtship in the same sentence as you and I.”
She pulled at the end of my hair, not hard. “And you’re being a jerk.”
I was. But the thing in my gut, spinning and jumping and leaping like frogs and butterflies all put together? Yeah, that was a happy-ass jerk. Summer wanted to date me. Figure this thing out between us. Be with me.
“You wanna be my girlfriend then? Go steady with me?” I winked, secretly fucking loving the idea.
She rolled her eyes. “Kind of thought we’d established that already.” If it weren’t half dark in the room, I’d almost bet her cheeks were pink.
“It’s established, all right.”
“Well,” she huffed. “Good then. Glad that’s… established.”
I yanked the blanket off our bodies, hiking her up to where my cock br
ushed over the lips of her pussy. She let out a little hiss of pleasure, and I damn near exploded all over her again.
I knew this was it—the answer to my minimal prayers. Summer was the only family I’d ever need again. Just as long as I could be hers.
“You know you’ve been mine since the second I laid eyes on you in that blue waitress get-up.”
“Really?” Her nose curled up. “I thought you hated me.”
I shook my head and grinned, tucking some of her hair behind her ear. “Never hated you. Just got confused about the way you made me feel.”
“Could’ve fooled me.” Fingers traced around my stomach, shifting between my hip bones.
At her touch, I said the biggest truth I’d ever told. “How could I hate the one thing I love?”
Her eyes grew heavy, and a smile spread over her lips. “You really love me?”
“More than anything.” I didn’t hesitate. No reason to when I meant it. I did love Summer. And it might not have been that long, but I knew she was it for me. She was the one.
“Niyol Lattimore.” She lowered her head to mine and kissed me once on the lips. “You and your sweet words slay me.”
I grinned and grabbed her bare ass. “Plus, you made me hard as a fucking rock that night. Had to go back home and jerk one out, only to jerk another one out right afterward.”
“Way to ruin a moment.” She squeezed the side of my stomach, not too hard, but just enough to make my cock twitch.
“Come here.” I kissed her lips once more, tangling my hands through her long hair. Tasting her slowly, I let her know, without words, that she was mine and I was hers and together, no matter what, we were lifers.
Epilogue
Summer
Three months later
Niyol promised me dinner and a movie after I got off work. It was supposed to be one of our rare date nights; the only source of normalcy we had all week. During my lunch period though, he’d called to say he was going to be late picking me up from work. Apparently, he had club business to take care of first. Because I’d grown used to the constant fluctuation in our schedules, I didn’t question it. Guess that was the life of a Red Dragon old lady.
My need to keep a routine outside of school and coaching was seriously messing with me, yeah. But at the same time, Niyol was also helping me see the dark side, where we lived on whims and spontaneity. Nothing about our relationship was perfect, that’s for sure. Case in point, my brothers hated him while my father dealt with him.
But when it comes to love, you don’t necessarily have a choice in the matter. And I was certifiably, head-over-heels, in love with Niyol Lattimore.
With that thought, I walked down the stairs of Rockford Middle School with a stupid, goofy grin on my face.
“Hey, Mute.” I waved to the club member who’d been following me around, acting like my bodyguard, for the last few weeks. Niyol insisted I had someone constantly close by when he wasn’t there, explaining that this Mute guy, was the best man for the job. Mostly, he made himself scarce, except for instances like tonight, with me being the last one to leave the building. I purposely hadn’t driven my new Rover because Ny was supposed to be picking me up.
Mute nodded at me, a pair of black glasses over his eyes—even with the thunder clouds brewing to the west. He was tall and muscular, tattoos for days on his neck and every other inch of his skin I had seen thus far. He was polite to me, but didn’t speak much—hence the name Mute, I’m assuming. Niyol said he was a new prospect, him and his brother Talker, so he was trying to do right by everyone in the club, which apparently meant not being overly friendly with the ladies. Still, I was determined to know him in some way or another, even if all I ever got out of him were a few nods and an occasional smile.
Thinking I had a few minutes left to spare before Niyol arrived, I headed toward the curb to sit, intending to yank out a book, only for the roar of a Harley to rev from the parking lot the second I sat down. Like a silly school girl, I couldn’t help but jump to my feet, then skip to meet up with him in the middle of the lot.
God he was sexy.
“You’re early,” I hollered over the roar of his engine.
He greeted me with that side smile I loved, handing me over my helmet. “Didn’t want to keep my princess waiting.”
I rolled my eyes as he reached for my hand and tugged me to his chest. Like always, I inhaled the scent of his aftershave and the leather from his cut. The one thing that was noticeably missing? The smell of menthol and smoke. He’d quit six weeks ago.
I called it a milestone and he called it an act of true love.
At the thought, I pulled back to kiss him, threading my fingers through his hair. It was the kind of kiss that said I love you. The kind of kiss that said I missed you. It was my favorite type.
Completely breathless, I dropped my forehead to his. “Got room on that thing for me?”
He patted the seat behind him. “The only woman who’s ever going to be on this bike again is you.”
Laughing under my breath, I slipped on behind him, waving at Mute who just pulled out of the lot. Like I’d grown used to, I tugged the helmet on over my head, only for Ny to turn and strap it beneath my chin.
“Ready?” he grinned back at me.
My belly swirled. Then I nodded and wrapped my arms around his waist. Seconds later, we took off down the street, weaving through the cars, until we hit the highway. I didn’t ask where we were going, just shut my eyes and savored the moment. The thrill of riding behind my boyfriend, feeling him between my legs, while the rumble of his bike engine vibrated beneath me, was like an adrenaline rush I never wanted to end.
Which pretty much summed up our entire relationship at this point.
My boring version of normalcy and career-dom was balanced by his crazy. We were opposites in the best possible way. I may not have been his first, but I knew I was his forever. And for that, I was happier than I’d ever been in my life.
Forty minutes later, when my legs were weak, and my backside numb, Niyol pulled down a gravel road just inside of the Red Dragons’ compound. I could see the high fences from where we stood.
“What are we doing here?” I asked, looking around.
“Come on.” He parked just outside the padlocked entry, trees tucked around both sides. A shiver of unease ran through me, as nothing seemed safe anymore in life. Niyol said he would never let anything hurt me, but I knew even the strongest, toughest group of men couldn’t necessarily keep me safe if Charles Lattimore had his way. Still, I chose not to think like that, living in the moments I had with Niyol while all was calm.
We stumbled down a gravel road once he unlocked the metal padlock, his hand clasped in mine.
“I’ve been thinking a lot about things between us lately,” he said, his gaze switching between me and the road ahead. He looked nervous, a look he didn’t sport that often.
Niyol and I thought about our relationship all the time, so his statement wasn’t entirely new—though his behavior was. Usually it was me doing the talking about futures, while he sat and stared at me, occasionally playing with my hair, a mindless, warm gaze on his face. I’d never felt so devoted to in my life.
“Verdict is?” I studied the plants and vines growing up the length of the pathway, mesmerized by the ivy and flowers. They weren’t roses exactly, but similar looking. Gorgeous all the same. It was a quiet path of perfection back here, reminding me a little of our Colorado camping adventure. I smiled, thinking about that night in the back of my Range Rover, our fingers on the window, his lips on mine.
“Verdict is, I miss you like crazy.”
I squeezed his hand and smiled sadly at him. “I miss you too.”
Our time together was rare. Once a week and the weekends… It could be worse, of course, though for Niyol and me, it wasn’t enough. But between my job and coaching, and his running the new on-site motorcycle shop, we didn’t have much of a choice.
Niyol’s dark eyebrows pulled together over his
even darker eyes in thought. He’d cut his hair shorter on the sides last month but kept it long in the front and middle. Kind of Mohawkish. Not to mention badass sexy.
“I need you to come live with me.”
I skidded to a stop. “What?”
He rubbed the back of his head, peering through a layer of hair with a nervous stare. “I need you close, Summer. All the time. I know I said I would wait, but I can’t. Not anymore. You’re on my mind all day and all night. And it fucking drives me nuts that I can’t come home with you.” He shook his head. “Fucking sucks even more that Mute get to see you more than me.”
The first thought that went through my mind, surprisingly, was Emily.
She’d go nuts if I moved in with Niyol—not that she controlled me. Or that it was any of her business. But after discovering the truth about who her father was, that her mom had supposedly ‘taken off’ with him, she’d gone completely off-kilter. Broke off her engagement with Sam, sold their home, and moved into the apartment next door to mine. She was always at my house. Always sleeping over. Always crying too. I felt terrible for her, knowing she’d lost so much. The thought of leaving her alone like that… It killed me.
“I’m not really sure what you want me to say.” And I wasn’t. Maybe because he and I were still so new to this relationship thing.
“Just, come on. Follow me.”
My curiosity was still piqued, so I followed him like he asked, my hand automatically folding into his again. Our footsteps were the only sound we could hear as we moved down the road, other than the occasional bird and the gust of a fallen leaf. The further we walked, the less I could hear. Not even the highway traffic that ran due south could be discerned in the distance. Peace washed over me, regardless of the bomb he’d just dropped, and I leaned my head back, soaking in the late, evening air. It was chilly, but perfect, reminding me of my grandparents’ Iowa farm.
Her Wild Ride: An addictive, steamy biker MC romance suspense novel Page 29