by Elias Taylor
“All Heavy Hogs?” Heather asked.
“Yup,” George said. “We are not exactly simpatico with the Road Warriors right now.”
Hayden’s face only seemed to darken at the mention of the rival club. Heather was curious. She made a note to ask him if she got the chance. The nuance and codes of the biker lifestyle had always intrigued her. It was so different from the world she had grown up in, but beneath its wild exterior, Hayden had taught her that it had its structure and most clubs protected their own.
“Well, I’ve got to get up early tomorrow,” Melinda said. “So I’d better head home. Want a ride, Heather?”
Heather wasn’t tired. Between the Ferris wheel ride and Hayden and the meal, she had a ton of energy.
“I don’t know, I’m not too tired,” Heather said.
“Wanna go for a ride on my bike?” Hayden asked.
He no longer looked upset about anything. He wasn’t over-eager or being pushy. Just offering a casual alternative. Heather tried not to overanalyze it.
“I remember how much you used to love it,” Hayden said. “And it’s a nice night for a quick ride.”
Heather hesitated. Hayden was right. She had once loved rides on the back of his bike. The first time she had been petrified, but after that, she had craved the rush of wind and the exhilaration that drowned out all her other stresses. And of course the comfort that came with wrapping her arms around Hayden.
“No worries if you can’t,” Hayden said. “Another time.”
“No,” Heather said. “I’m in.”
Hayden raised his eyebrows in genuine surprise. Heather smiled at him.
She wanted this ride and she wanted it tonight. She had no early rehearsal to wake up for. She didn’t have to take extra care of her body anymore. She didn’t have to play every day so safe for fear she might ruin her dreams.
Her dreams were already ruined, so what was there left to do but find joy in whatever way she could? And she really had loved those bike rides back in the day.
Besides, it was high time she learned how to be a normal person again.
They paid the bill and then Melinda and George said their goodbyes.
With a rush of excitement, Heather followed Hayden out into the night and towards his bike.
Chapter Ten: The Waves
Hayden had not expected Heather to say yes. His mind was still reeling as she bobbed along beside him towards his Harley. She even walked like she was dancing. She infused each step with grace and elegant movement.
He had figured that she would say no, it would be awkward as hell that he had even asked, and then they would lose whatever familiarity they had gained on that Ferris wheel.
It had just been so bleak when she started talking about leaving Lyndon again. Hayden had figured that she was only here for a short time, so he might as well enjoy the days they had. Plus she had been the one to admit she wasn’t ready for the night to end.
Hayden handed her a helmet and waited while she adjusted the straps and buckled it. For the first time in years, he was nervous getting on his bike. His legs even shook a bit as he straddled the seat. Then he felt Heather climb up behind him. After only a second of hesitation, she wrapped her arms around his waist and it felt so good Hayden couldn’t help but smile.
At least he would have this new memory to comfort him when she went back to Chicago or New York.
As soon as Hayden pulled out onto the road, he knew where he wanted to go. It was a longer ride out to the coast, but they had taken that route all the time when they were younger.
He felt the moment Heather realized where they were going. Her arms tightened around his torso and she leaned her chest into his back until they were almost melded together. When she turned her head and rested her cheek against the top of his back, it was like a magnetic pull was activated within Hayden. He wanted her as close as possible.
The wind rushed into his face and Hayden focused on breathing in and out.
When they arrived at a secluded pull-off spot that overlooked the coast, Hayden pulled up. Heather hopped off and looked out over the dark waves. There was a full moon that illuminated the strip of sand and the lapping water.
“It’s enchanting,” Heather said.
Hayden thought she was the one who was enchanting. She stood with her head tipped back to gaze at the stars, and Hayden took advantage of her preoccupation to admire her elegant profile and supple shape.
“Should we go down and sit for a while?” Hayden asked.
“Yeah.”
There was a little rock path that was carved into the slope to the water. When they were teenagers, Heather had called it a secret path. Since they never saw anyone else at that spot, it was easy to believe that it was a magical hidden beach, just for them.
Hayden went first. The darkness made Heather slow on the uneven ground. Hayden realized she might be nervous about her bad knee as well. He had noticed her grimacing a bit getting on an off the Ferris wheel. So he turned and offered her his hand. Heather gave him a grateful look and took it.
An electric shock buzzed through Hayden as she gripped his palm. His entire being wanted to feel more of her bare skin.
There had been other girls. Biker chicks and random girls from bars. All one or two night stands. They had been fine enough. But no one had ever called to Hayden’s body like Heather did.
When they reached the sand, Heather released Hayden’s hand and he felt a dull ache at her absence. She bent down to take off her shoes and when she stood back up, to Hayden’s delight, she recaptured his hand.
They walked out towards the water. Hayden spread a blanket he had pulled from his bag onto the sand. They sat, shoulder to shoulder.
“Your knee ok?”
“Yes.” She stared down at her legs stretched out in front of her. She leaned back on her hands. “I mean, it’s not ok. But it feels how it usually does.”
Hayden could tell it was bothering her. She was hurting, but it wasn’t all physical. He of all people knew how much she had loved dance. She had wanted to be a professional so bad. She held herself to intense diets, gone to bed early every night, never drank alcohol, canceled dozens of dates. She used to tell him it would be all worth it when she finally made it as a ballerina. And now her one great dream had been taken away.
“If you wanna talk about it, I’m here,” Hayden said. “You don’t have to, of course.”
Heather turned away. Hayden could have kicked himself. It had been stupid to offer. Of course she didn’t want to discuss this tragedy with him. He barely knew her. He had once, but not anymore. He heard her take a shaky breath.
“The worst part is, I keep wanting to tell everyone it’s not my fault,” Heather said. “Because I didn’t fall, Hayden. My partner dropped me.”
Hayden kept his eyes fixed on her, but didn’t say anything. He had a feeling the best thing he could do for her was listen.
“There was this big lift in the third act,” Heather said. “And my partner, Pasha, he was off-balance and he dropped me. And I keep wanting to scream out that I shouldn’t have to be punished for this. I didn’t do anything wrong.”
A tear dropped from Heather’s eye. She hated crying. She always wanted to tough it out. Hayden moved as slow as possible as he reached out and wiped it off her cheek with his thumb. Hayden had an overwhelming desire to track down this Pasha and hit him as hard as possible. The guy deserved worse for dropping Heather.
“But how babyish is that?” Heather asked. “Complaining that life isn’t fair like I expect someone will be able to hit rewind and give me a re-do. But of course, I could get 50 re-dos and still end up injured.”
“Hey, it’ll be ok. You’ll dance again.”
“You don’t understand,” Heather whispered. “This injury is bad. I’ll never get back to where I was. I’ve seen it happen to hundreds of dancers...I’m put out to pasture.”
She buried her face in her hands. Hayden reached out and put his arm around her. She relaxed under his arm and leane
d her face into his chest.
“I’m sorry for crying in front of you,” Heather mumbled.
“It’s fine, you’re not made of steel,” Hayden said. “It’s alright to grieve.”
“I just gave up so much to dance. Even you.”
Hayden was stunned. He would have thought Heather had made peace with her decision to ditch him by now.
Heather sat up and wiped the rest of her tears away. She took a deep breath and looked out towards the water.
“You know, you don’t have to solve the whole issue in one day,” Hayden said. “Remember what I used to tell you when you were stressed? Let your worries go out with the waves and the answers will come back eventually.”
Heather smiled up at him. The moon illuminated her face with a silver light. Her eyes were a bit puffy, but she looked all the better for sharing her burden.
She was beautiful.
“Alright,” Heather said.
In one graceful movement, she was on her feet. She turned and grabbed his hands to pull him up. Once he was standing, she ran towards the ocean and Hayden had no choice but to follow, his hand in hers.
At the edge of the water, Hayden tugged off his boots and socks and they waded in.
“Ah, it’s cold,” Hayden said.
He hopped from one foot to another.
“Baby!” Heather cried.
She leaned down and splashed Hayden with a spray of the salt water.
“Oh, you’re gonna pay for that,” Hayden said.
Heather screamed at his ominous tone and she tried to dash away, but Hayden was too quick. With his hand he sent a surge of water straight into her face. She stumbled backward and a wave crashed into her legs. As she started to tumble down, Hayden sloshed towards her and caught her in his arms.
As if it was muscle memory, Heather wrapped her arms around his neck.
They stood, waist-deep in the ocean, pressed together. Their faces were mere inches apart.
Hayden couldn’t breathe. He also couldn’t let her go. It felt too good to hold her against his chest.
Then Heather kissed him. It was a gentle touch, a question of a kiss. Hayden didn’t hesitate. He pressed his mouth against hers and kissed her like he had been waiting to do for years. Until that moment, he had not known how starved for her touch he was. He deepened the kiss by urging her mouth open with his tongue. She gripped his shoulders with her hands and matched his fervor.
“Hayden,” Heather whispered.
“Yeah,” he said. “Is this alright?”
Heather answered by kissing him again. The primal surge of desire overtook Hayden’s limbs and he moved his hands to her bottom and started to toy with the hem of her skirt. He could feel her panties were lined with lace, and he ran his fingers beneath the edge to cup her smooth, firm ass.
Another wave crashed against their legs and he felt Heather shiver, but she didn’t break their kiss. He gripped her bottom tighter, encouraging her to lean into him. Heather knew exactly what he wanted; in one smooth jump, she wrapped her legs around his waist.
Hayden held her above the water. He kept one hand on her ass and ran the other one up her back. Heather pulled away from his lips and started to sprinkle kisses along his jawline and towards his ear.
When she buried her face into his neck and started flicking his sensitive skin with her tongue, Hayden groaned with pleasure.
Heather shifted in his arms and Hayden felt the tightening in his groin. He slipped his hand beneath her shirt and ran a finger below the edge of her bra, over the soft underside of her breast. He had always marveled at Heather’s body, how parts of it were hard muscle and then other parts were so soft and pliable.
Heather tugged at the collar of his shirt and buried her fingers in the layer of hair on his chest. She let out a soft whimper as Hayden gripped her breast.
He had an iron-hard erection. He craved every part of her and he knew if she kept touching him like this, he wouldn’t be able to stop.
Hayden started to walk back towards the blanket. Heather reached down and pulled up the hem of his white shirt. This was the side of Heather that had always aroused Hayden. When her shyness faded she was so bold in going for what she wanted. She ran her delicate fingers over the bare skin of his stomach.
When they reached the blanket, Hayden slowly dropped to his knees and then recaptured Heather’s mouth with his.
There was a ferocity to his kissing now. He took her bottom lip between his teeth and tugged. Heather sucked in her breath but continued to push herself against him. Slowly, Hayden lowered her to the ground until she was lying on her back.
He held himself above her and admired her shining face. Her lips were swollen from his kissing and her eyes were hazy with her own desire. She fluttered her hand along his lower stomach before hooking her fingers into his waistband.
“You’re beautiful,” Hayden said.
“Hayden, I want you,” Heather said. “I want all of you.”
Back in high school, they had never gone all the way. Hayden had fucked a few chicks before he started dating Heather, mostly to show off to his bad-influence friends. With Heather, he had wanted to take it slow. Everything felt so wonderful and she had wanted to wait until the time was right, so Hayden had been happy to wait for her. After she broke it off, it used to drive him into rages to think that some other guy was going to take her virginity. Some other guy who wouldn’t know her like he did, who wouldn’t treat her as well as she deserved.
He could make up for all that now.
He kissed her neck while he slowly slid his hand beneath her shirt again. This time he pushed his fingers beneath her bra and seized her nipple. Heather’s gasp of pleasure made his flesh throb in excitement. But he wasn’t going to rush this. He was going to take it slow and make sure she enjoyed it.
Heather wiggled beneath him until her shirt was off. Hayden yanked his own T-shirt off as well. Heather eyes roved over his torso before she grasped his arms with her hands.
Hayden leaned down and started to sprinkle kisses across her chest and towards her breast. He pulled her bra aside and captured her nipple in his mouth. As she moaned, Hayden playfully sucked and flicked her. He put his other hand to her panties and slowly reached down to her soft fleece of hair.
“Oh, Hayden, please,” Heather said.
Hayden lowered his head to her ear. His voice was low and gruff.
“Do you know how bad I’ve wanted this?” he asked.
“I’ve wanted it too,” Heather said.
Hayden pushed his fingers beneath her panties and ran his fingers over her satin flesh. She was so fucking wet that Hayden growled as his cock strained with desire.
As he began to stroke her clit, gently at first and then more intensely, Hayden leaned down to kiss her again.
He moved his mouth to her neck and then back to her nipple.
And there under the moon and stars, Hayden lost himself to the crash of the waves and Heather’s sensual sighs.
Chapter Eleven: Happy
It felt so good. His hands on her felt so amazing that Heather didn’t have room in her head to wonder if this was a good idea or think about this from a practical point of view.
All she knew was that she wanted Hayden. As he stroked her clit, her yearning only grew and she arched her back beneath him.
There had been a few guys, all dancers, at school and then in Chicago. All brief, all of them ending because Heather couldn’t be bothered to get into a serious relationship with anyone. But Heather had never wanted anyone like she wanted Hayden. And none of them had touched her like Hayden was touching her just then beneath the dazzling stars.
All of a sudden he pulled his fingers away and Heather frowned.
“Hayden?” she asked.
“Trust me,” he said.
Then he was pulling her skirt and her panties off. Heather gasped in excitement as he put his head between her legs and gave her his tongue. Heather surrendered herself to the rising waves of pleasure that co
ursed from her core and through the rest of her body.
She buried her hands in Hayden’s hair and cried out as he used his fingers and his tongue to bring her closer to the edge. He was good at this. He worked his mouth over her most sensitive spot over and over until the bundle of nerves hovered on the edge.
“Hayden, please,” Heather gasped.
And then he sent her over. She called out this name over and over as her climax reached its peak. All her worries and stresses faded away. It was just her and him under the stars.
His hands tightened around her hips and Heather could feel his callouses digging into her skin. Even as she reached the crest of her peak, she knew she wanted more. She wanted all of him. She wanted to hold him as tight as she could.
As she came down from her orgasm, Hayden’s face appeared above her. He held himself up on one arm and then carefully brushed a lock of hair away from her face.
She ran her hands over his chest and then gripped his jaw in her hand. She kissed him hard. Then she reached for the front of his jeans.
He raised his eyebrows at her and quirked his lips into a grin.
“You sure?” he asked.
“Yes,” Heather said.
She pushed his jeans down and reached inside his boxers and ran her hand lightly over the sinewy length of him. Hayden groaned and she gripped his cock harder. She worked her hand up and down, savoring how much Hayden clearly wanted her.
Heather rearranged her legs so they were on either side of him and gripped his torso with her thighs. With a frustrated grunt, Hayden pushed her hands aside and pressed his manhood against her tender flesh. Then he penetrated her in one deep thrust. Heather whimpered as she felt him deep inside her. His hardness pressed against the warmth where she ached the most. He drove in harder and she took him in as deep as she could.
Then Hayden reached down and began to massage her clit again with his hand. Heather felt the passion growing in her once more and it was almost too much to bear. She convulsed around him as she cried out.
Hayden embedded himself in her again and again, ripples of ecstasy flowing through Heather until she started to erupt in another climax.