Spike (Spark Series #2)

by Ryder, Jennifer

  SPIKE

  Book Two

  of the

  Spark Series

  Jennifer Ryder

  SPIKE

  Copyright © 2014 Jennifer Ryder

  Published by Jennifer Ryder

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, please write to the author, addressed “Request: Copyright Approval”, at jenniferryder01@gmail.com.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are of the author’s imagination or are used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return it to the seller and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Jennifer Ryder is in no way affiliated with any brands, songs or musicians or artists mentioned in this book.

  Cover Art and Design by Rebecca Berto of Berto Designs

  Editing by Lauren K McKellar

  Formatting by Max Effect Author Services

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  PROLOGUE

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  EPILOGUE

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  DEDICATION

  For my beautiful little family.

  This is dedicated to you, for all the light you bring to my life, and for accepting and supporting my crazy ways. You inspire me every day to chase my dreams.

  xxx

  PROLOGUE

  * EEVIE *

  As I flip through my mail out the front of my apartment complex, a folded piece of paper falls to the ground. I pick it up, expecting some kind of advertising drivel.

  Eevie,

  We have never met, but it is really important I speak with you.

  I used to go out with Aidan. Can you please call me? We need to talk.

  - Tara Woods

  A mobile phone number is scribbled beneath her name. I swing my head around, wondering if it was only just put into the slot. Is she here? How on earth does she know where I live?

  I reread the note. Is this some kind of sick joke? Why would Aidan’s ex-girlfriend need to speak with me? What could be so important? Does she want Aidan back?

  My heart squeezes tight in my chest, each question adding to the sudden sensitivity of my stomach.

  As far as I’m concerned, I like pretending he hadn’t slept with anyone before me. Some may call it ignorance, but it works for me. I’d never asked Aidan about his ex for a reason. I don’t want to know about her, and I don’t want to know what she might have had with Aidan.

  Call me possessive. But. He. Is. Mine.

  When I get upstairs, I crumple up the letter and throw it in the bin. There’s no way I’m calling her. I’d rather stick a dirty fork in my eye. I shake off the black thoughts that followed me up the stairwell. I’m back on track, and right now, I don’t have the head-space to cope with a psycho ex.

  I turn on my laptop, and flip through my notes. I’m determined to finish my uni research report on psychosocial interventions. How ironic. This is clearly not the time to be thinking about unstable ex-girlfriends.

  CHAPTER ONE

  * EEVIE *

  Friday. Yay! The day I have eagerly awaited for two very long weeks. I’ve handed in my report, and Aidan has the weekend clear of work and racing. This weekend is all about us, and I don’t plan on wasting a single minute of it.

  My phone rings, Loverboy flashing on the display. Just seeing this always brings a smile to my face, no matter where I am or what mood I’m in. I’m hopeless.

  “I’m downstairs, babe,” he says, his voice laced with excitement.

  “Be right down.” I hang up and toss my phone in my handbag, then grab my duffle bag with clothes for the next few days. I run down the steps and out of the building, and slow my step as I meet Aidan’s gaze.

  In faded, blue jeans, his long legs lean back against his sleek black Ute, his arms folded, showing off those guns. He’s wearing that well-worn grey T-shirt—my favourite and his—which is tight against that firm body. Yes, I’m drooling. He’s a full eight-course degustation menu for my hungry eyes, and I’ve sacrificed being with him for two weeks for study. He flashes me my smile. The panty-dropping one. And it makes the sacrifice worthwhile. He keeps pushing me to follow my dreams, and I know that he’ll always be there, right behind me.

  I should be over the butterflies by now, but they stir with each step. They always know when Aidan is near. It hasn’t even been six months since we got together, and the heat between us hasn’t shown any sign of cooling down. I never thought love would be like this, and I still regularly have to remind myself that this is real, and that Aidan is not a figment of my wild imagination.

  When I reach him I dump my bags beside his dusty boots, and wrap my arms around his neck, leaning my body against his. “Hey,” I mumble, and take in as much of his manly scent as I can in one breath. It’s my favourite mix of Calvin Klein and a hard day’s work. Heaven.

  “I missed you,” Aidan says low in his throat, tucking my hair behind my ear. Moving his hands to either side of my face, his mouth is on mine before I can respond, the unexpected minty taste of him sending ripples of delight through me. We need to get out of here otherwise I’m going to drag him back inside. I didn’t realise how much I missed this. Just his simple touch.

  Aidan groans into my mouth as he exhales. “Hurry up and get in the car before I do you on the lawn.” He swats me on the arse, making me squeal.

  I ruffle his messy, brown hair before stepping back and picking up my bags. I dawdle around to the other side of the vehicle, Aidan’s eyes tracking me as I swing the bags in time with my footsteps.

  “I mean it. Hurry up,” he warns, and rakes his fingers through his hair as he gets in.

  After a few near red lights, and some fast driving we pull into Aidan’s garage. We must have set a new record. I don’t remember the drive over ever being that quick.

  “Do you think we’ll make it out of the garage this time?” I tease, fluttering my eyelashes. I’ll never forget the first time he’d brought me to his place. We’d had the hottest sex ever, in his garage, of all places.

  Aidan chuckles. “Yeah, I’ll see if I can contain myself. I think Connor’s away, so we should have the whole place to ourselves.”

  “Well, what are you waiting for then? Let’s go.”

  I rush out of the car, and I
dump my bags in the entry. Aidan is hot on my tail as I run into the lounge room. He swings me around, and possessively grabs my hips, walking me back until my knees meet the armrest of the couch. He leans me back, slowly dipping me into the softness of the pillows.

  “Whatcha doin?” I ask, shuffling my bum back up the couch until my head rests on the soft armrest of the other end. Normally, he’d be half-naked by now. Aidan pushes my knees apart and lies on top of me, settling his hips between my legs. Just the weight of him on top of me, something I’ve desperately missed, feels incredible.

  “You wanna know somethin’?” he asks. He leads a fiery trail of wet kisses from my ear along my jaw to my chin.

  “Sure.” I squirm beneath him as his stubble tickles at my skin.

  He runs the tip of his nose against mine and sighs. “For two long weeks I’ve jerked off imagining doin’ any number of things to you, but you wanna know what I wanted most?”

  “What?” I ask, running my fingers along the waistband of his jeans, and up the delicious, toned muscles of his back.

  “To kiss these fuckin’ gorgeous lips. Prepare to be ravished.”

  Oh my. “Believe me, I’m—” Ready.

  Aidan’s mouth halts my words, pressing his lips hard against mine. His tongue gently teases me. Slow. Soft. He takes his sweet time, and don’t I love it. I suck his bottom lip and kiss him, taste him, savouring the connection between us, which is simply incredible. Aidan props himself higher onto his elbows, and lies on his side, catching his breath.

  After a kissing session that’s gotta rival any we’ve had before, I’m struggling for breath. I weave my arm around his waist, and slip my leg between his.

  “Well,” I say as I exhale, running my fingers over my sure-to-be swollen lips, “I now consider myself well and truly ravished.” I waggle my eyebrows, and Aidan lets out a sexy-arse deep chuckle.

  “You know I don’t do anything by halves.” He raises his scarred eyebrow, and runs his fingers over the line of my jaw. “You know these past few weeks have been bloody torture.”

  “I know they have, but it’s a killer playing catch up after Mum’s breakdown and I can’t study around you. You’re too … distracting.” I run my hand under his shirt, my fingers warming with the heat of his body.

  He squirms as I trace that ticklish spot just below the lickable V-cut of his hip. As much as he protests when I do it, I simply can’t resist that spot. Touching it usually ends up in me being tickled close to death, but it’s worth it. Every damn time.

  “Hey, cut that out. You know it’ll only end in tears.”

  I laugh, and poke him in the ribs. Just because I can. “Is there any reason why I’m not naked right now?” I ask.

  He furrows his brow. “I reckon we go back to your place tomorrow and you can pack some more stuff. You can stay for the break,” he says, totally ignoring my naked comment. Mmm.

  “Sounds good. As long as Connor doesn’t mind.”

  “I’m sure it won’t be a problem,” he says.

  “Is Connor ever here? He sounds like the perfect housemate to me.”

  “Yeah, about that,” he says, rubbing the back of his neck. His eyes shift away for a moment.

  I frown. “What about Connor?”

  “He’s changin’ truck routes, and it makes more sense for him to live out of Sydney. So, it looks like he’ll be moving out and I’ll be in the market for a new housemate.”

  “Oh,” I say softly. I don’t know how I feel about sharing Aidan with anyone else. Connor was the perfect housemate. Absent. “Are you going to advertise, or just ask around?”

  “Dunno. You know I was talkin’ to Rob the other day …” He trails off.

  “Maybe he could move in with you,” I blurt out. At least I know Rob from school, and occasionally see him when he comes over to see my flatmate, Crystal. They’ve been dating for years now, and he and Aidan get along well. It sounds like the perfect solution to me.

  “Nah, he’s got other plans. You know, he asked Crystal the other day to move in with him, but she was a bit nervous about it. He gets the impression it’s because she doesn’t wanna leave you in the lurch.”

  Well, this is news. But I’d hate to stand in the way of Crystal being happy. I hope that worrying about me didn’t taint the excitement of being asked to move in with her boyfriend for the first time.

  “She practically lives with him anyway. She should’ve just asked me. Maybe I could see if one of the girls from uni could take over her share of the lease.”

  Although on second thoughts, I’m not sure if I’m keen on the idea. I don’t want a party animal in the room next to me. I definitely won’t ask Bridge from uni, but that’s mainly because she reminds me of a dark time in my life, when I spiralled into Alex’s bed. I still can’t believe I was about to lose my virginity to him when Blonde Barbie walked in. But things happen for a reason, and it was a blessing, as Aidan and I finally got our chance, and my first time was perfect.

  Aidan frowns. What’s going on in that head of his? Is he worried I’ll have trouble finding a new housemate?

  “So, I’m lookin’ for someone who can cook, who’s reasonably neat and tidy, and preferably easy on the eye. Let me know if you can think of anyone,” he says. A cheeky-arse smile tickles at his lips.

  Oh my God. Is he asking me to move in with him, or is he just trying to rile me up? Let’s see.

  “I could ask Cassie if her brother, Ryan, is interested. I’ve never met him, but if he’s anything like Cassie, I’m sure he’s good looking.” I press my lips together, trying not to grin my head off.

  He shuffles and sits upright on the end of the couch. “Uh, that’s not quite what I meant.”

  I kneel beside him, my body facing his. “Why don’t you say what you mean, then?” I say, raising my eyebrows expectantly.

  “Move in with me,” he says, a touch of vulnerability in his voice. “I was gonna ask you a while back, I … So what do ya reckon?”

  Aw, he was gonna ask me a while back? Was he afraid I’d say no? My smile breaks through but I remain silent, letting him squirm a little more. He reaches over to me, and cups my face in his hands.

  “Baby girl, it drives me crazy when I can’t see you. Especially when we live such busy lives. I can’t imagine sharing with anyone else. I don’t want to.”

  I straddle his lap and take his stubbly jaw in my hands. Aidan wraps his strong arms around me, and I take a long, deep breath in, trying to calm the crazy beating of my heart. There is only one answer I can give him.

  “My home is wherever you are, Aidan. So yes. I would love to move in with you.”

  Aidan plants a loud kiss on my lips, and blinds me with a winning smile. “So it’s settled. I’ll tell Rob the good news, huh?” he says, his voice chipper. So eager.

  “Just let me talk to Crystal first. We’ll have to talk to the landlord and sort out the lease. But, there’s just one condition.”

  He smirks. “And what’s that?”

  “When I say I have to study, I mean it. Not that I might need to study, and I’m open to negotiation. This is my chance to work hard at it, and move my career along. As persuasive as you are, you’ll have to put your charm on hold.”

  His teeth-flashing smile splits his face, mischief dancing in his eyes. “I don’t make any promises I can’t keep, so I’ll do my best.”

  I can’t help but mirror his grin. I can almost hear the cogs turning as Aidan no doubt calculates how he’s going to persuade me.

  “Aidan, I’m serious.”

  “Baby girl, so am I.”

  ****

  The next morning, after a long run together, Aidan and I shower and retreat to the couch to read the newspaper. In typical boy fashion, he snaffles the sports section. I head straight for the gossip pages. Call me superficial for wanting to read that stuff, but after the heavy shit I’ve been reading for uni it’s my way of massaging my brain back to life.

  Aidan makes a grunting sound as he flips over the
page.

  “Anything good in there?” I ask.

  “Yeah, got my name in the paper.” He lowers the black and white pages, letting me appreciate his proud smile. God, I love seeing him like this. Sometimes it’s like he’s a little boy who thinks he’s dreaming, like his goal is so far out of reach when he is in fact, living it.

  “Does it say that you’re a superstar hottie and taking the motocross world by storm?”

  Aidan stands up. He folds the paper and drops it in my lap as he chuckles. “Yeah, somethin’ like that.”

  Opening the sports section, a photo of a rider getting some serious air catches my eye. My man. The article gives a bit of background on Aidan’s career to date, and how people are sitting up and taking notice of his talent, particularly some of the seasoned riders. It also says how he’d been picked up by Yamaha, one of the biggest sponsors in Australia, after competing for several years as a privateer.

  As a privateer he’d had to work his arse off to support his career. Now he has a full team for support, and less of the financial worry. He can focus on riding, his passion. I couldn’t be prouder. I put down the paper, my heart now that much fuller.

  “This is awesome. You should definitely frame this. Oh, and we should get a copy of the paper for your mum.”

  Aidan nods. “Yeah, it’s kinda cool, huh? I’ll ring Mum and see if she already has it.”

  So talented, and yet so humble about it. Just one item on the long list of things I love about Aidan Stone.

  ****

  After a week of talking on and off to Crystal about moving out, we finally arrange to meet up for coffee. Even though we live together, we have to arrange a time to see each other. We just never seem to be home at the same time lately.

  “Hey girl, I’ve missed you,” Crystal says, pulling me into a hug.

  I squeeze her tight. “Me too. Come on, I’m dying for coffee.”