by Laura Kaye
As he straddled his bike and started the engine, he gave Cora a nod. “Cora.”
“Hi Dare,” she said, looking at him like he had three heads. Awesome.
He tore out after Jeb and Haven, across the lot, down the wooded driveway, and out onto the roadway that curved down the mountain to the track. Dare pushed the bike hard, leaning into the curves aggressively. It didn’t take him long to catch up to Jeb, who clearly was riding easy so he didn’t scare Haven.
Dare shot in front of them on a straightaway and skidded to a stop.
Jeb slowed to a roll and put his boots out to brace the bike. “What’s wrong?”
“I need Haven,” Dare said, not meaning the words the way he’d said them. Or maybe he had. Shit. “I’ll take her from here.” Over Jeb’s shoulder, Haven peered at him through the flip-down shield of the black helmet, and Jesus if she wasn’t sexy as fuck straddling a bike in a pair of jeans and that pale-blue T-shirt he’d seen her wear before.
“Uh, okay. Sure.” Jeb reached a hand around and helped Haven off. She lifted the helmet off, but Jeb shook his head. “Keep it. I’ll see ya back at the clubhouse later. Or you can just leave it on the bar.”
“Okay, thanks,” she said, tucking it under her arm.
Jeb looked between Dare and Haven like he wasn’t sure what was going on. Well, hell. Make that two of them. Dare nailed the prospect with a pointed stare, and the guy finally got the hint, pulled a U-ey, and headed back the way they’d come.
Which left Dare sitting on his idling bike and Haven standing there like a deer in the headlights.
“What’s the matter?” she asked. Sunlight spilled through the trees hanging over the road, and golden light made her hair and face even prettier. He wouldn’t have thought that possible.
Dare should’ve said what needed saying right there. He knew he should’ve. But that feeling from back in her room still had its claws in his brain. It was stupid and maybe even reckless (Live Dangerously!), but he wanted to give her something from that list. Giving her a ride? That was easy. And if she was going to have that particular experience, it was going to be with him.
Like that wasn’t fucking confusing. Because bikers attributed as much significance to who shared their ride as they did to who shared their bed. Maybe even more. What Dare couldn’t stand was seeing her on another man’s ride, arms around another man’s waist, her thighs wrapped around another man’s ass, her laugh spilling into another man’s ear. It didn’t matter how innocent it all was. Not when Dare had tasted her, been inside her, heard his name moaned in ecstasy from her lips.
So instead of manning up and confronting her, Dare just nodded his head. “Get on. If you want to ride, you can ride with me.”
NERVOUS EXCITEMENT RIPPLED through Haven’s belly as she approached Dare. His brow was furrowed and his eyes were narrowed, his whole expression painted with an intensity she couldn’t read. But, oh my God, did he look hot sitting on that bike. Strong thighs straddled the motorcycle. Lean, cut arms stretched to the handlebars. Long hair all blown back from his face.
Wild. Hard. Raw.
As excited as she’d been to ride with Jeb, she was about a million times more ecstatic to ride with Dare. After last night, arousal flowed lazily through her just to look at him. So getting to be so close to him when she wasn’t sure that would happen again? She couldn’t have been happier.
“Okay,” she said, slipping the helmet back on. Dare wasn’t wearing one, and Jeb hadn’t either. Weren’t they supposed to wear helmets? Wasn’t it dangerous not to? But his face was wearing that serious, shuttered look he sometimes got, the one that wasn’t much open to answering questions, so Haven didn’t ask.
He gave her a hand on, and then she had no choice but to wrap her thighs around the outside of his and press her front against his back. She rested her hands lightly on his hips, suddenly feeling awkward about holding on to him the way she’d done so innocently with Jeb. She was probably way overthinking it, but what had felt easy with Jeb felt more weighted, more significant with Dare.
“You ready?” he asked over his shoulder.
“As I’ll ever be,” she said.
Dare pulled her hands around him, making her embrace his chest. Their closeness shot butterflies through Haven, because he felt so good in her arms. “Hold on to me, Haven,” he said, beckoning even more butterflies. And then he took off, slowly at first, like Jeb had done.
She couldn’t believe she was touching Dare this way, but between their closeness, his hard heat, and the ride, Haven was grinning into her helmet. They rode down the mountain at an easy pace, Dare leaning them gently into the curves.
Haven loved the openness of the ride, the way the warm air rushed over her skin. It made her feel like she was flying, like she could go anywhere, like she was free. When the road flattened out into a straightaway, they passed a big parking lot and stadium—the racetrack she’d heard people talking about. A huge mural filled one whole exterior wall—the words Green Valley Racing painted in green over a waving black-and-white checkered flag. She’d never seen a car race in person, but she would love to. Maybe that was another thing for her list.
And, oh man, the fact that she got to check another item off after having done it with Dare absolutely tickled her.
Which made her wonder again why Dare had come after her and Jeb.
I need Haven.
His words came back to her, making no more sense now than they had when he’d said them. What did that even mean? What did he need her for? Did it have anything to do with what happened last night? Haven didn’t know whether to be excited about that possibility or scared—after all, Cora had said he’d seemed agitated. What if whatever had agitated him was why he wanted to talk?
Her shoulders sagged at the thought.
They came to a stop sign at the edge of the racetrack’s long driveway, and Dare looked over his shoulder at her. “Wanna take it fast or slow? Your call.”
Something in his eyes made her belly flip. “Fast,” she said.
The corner of his eye crinkled. “Was hoping you’d say that. Hold on tight.”
Dare pulled a left onto the country road that ran in front of the racetrack. They went up a rolling hill, around a big bend at the foot of the mountain, and then hit a long straightaway in the valley beyond. And that’s when Dare took off like a shot.
Haven screamed and then laughed as the bike tore down the road, and she couldn’t stop laughing. Holding on to Dare for everything she was worth, a feeling of elation rolled through her unlike anything she could ever remember experiencing. It was a light, buoyant, expansive feeling that filled her chest with a warm pressure.
And Dare was the one to make her feel this way.
“You okay?” he called over his shoulder.
“More than okay,” she said, grinning. Then she hugged him tighter, her front now plastered against his hard, broad back. “Can you go faster?”
One of his big hands pressed hers more firmly to his chest in answer, and then the bike was roaring down the road, cutting through green, rolling farmlands. The setting was tranquil, peaceful, beautiful, but the ride was fast and loud and a little scary in the same way the roller coaster she’d once ridden was.
Good scary. Fun scary. Do-it-again scary.
The thrill of the whole experience bloomed into arousal for the man she was holding on to. Her nipples hardened against Dare’s back, the friction of their bodies making her breasts achy and sensitive. Her core clenched and tingled from the vibration of the ride and the way her thighs were spread around his. She fought the urge to rub herself against him, to let her hands wander down his body, over his abs and his parted thighs, to that part of him that was most male.
The road became more hilly and curvy, and Dare slowed the bike as they started through the forest covering another mountain. A few minutes later, he turned onto a narrow road that was part of a park according to the wooden signs posted here and there. The surface turned to gravel and then opened
up into a small empty parking area. Dare pulled the bike to a stop and cut the engine.
“Where are we?” Haven asked as Dare helped her off the bike.
He dismounted and stowed her helmet for her, his gaze running over her face, her hair. She probably looked a mess from the ride. Wisps of hair had been blown out of her braid and hung all around her face. But she didn’t regret it for a minute.
“Someplace . . .” He shrugged with one shoulder, but she couldn’t tell if the gesture was casual or uncomfortable. “Just someplace I thought you might like.”
Well that was unexpected, and really sweet, too. Her heart thrummed against her breastbone, pulsing excitement and nervousness through her in equal measure. They walked side by side down a wide dirt path that opened after just a few minutes to reveal a big dark green lake. A long, narrow beach stretched down toward the left. Sun sparkled off the gently rippling surface, and trees rose up and up majestically to frame the whole scene.
“It’s beautiful,” she said, her gaze drinking in the site. She walked onto the sand, wishing she could feel its softness between her toes. “How did you find this place?”
Hands in his jeans pockets, Dare looked out over the water, his gaze almost distant. “I’ve explored every bit of the area at one time or another, and this is a nice place to be alone, to think.”
And he shared it with her.
Haven nodded. “Do you mind if—”
His gaze swung to hers, intense and penetrating. The request died in her throat. “What?” he asked, voice tight.
She didn’t understand the odd intensity rolling off of him, or the seriousness carving hard angles into his harshly attractive face. “Uh, I just wanted to take my shoes off.”
His gaze flipped down her body and slowly dragged back up. He gave a single nod.
Haven toed off her ratty sneakers, one of the few things she’d left Georgia with, and then reached down and rolled up the denim. The sand was cool between her toes and made her smile. “You should take your boots off,” she said, grinning up at him.
One eyebrow arched up in answer.
“Oh, come on,” she said, planting her hands on her hips. She wasn’t sure why she was poking at him, given the odd intensity he was projecting, except that maybe being playful would make him happier, too.
“I’ll pass,” he said.
Haven shrugged. “Suit yourself,” she said, walking down to the water. At first, she let just the tips of her toes get wet. “When I was a kid there was a river near my house where everyone went swimming. Little schools of minnows would dart around your legs, and it was ticklish. God, I haven’t thought of that in so long.” She stepped in a little further, until the water danced cool and soft around her shins.
When Dare didn’t say anything, Haven glanced over her shoulder at him and found him blatantly staring at her. Feet spread, shoulders tense, arms folded tightly over his chest in a way that made his biceps pop. Like he was there to protect her. And, in a way, she supposed he was.
Which, hmm, was kinda hot.
But a part of her really wanted to crack that hard-edged façade. A mischievous thought flitted through her head, something she never would’ve done before. In her old life, in the life that really hadn’t been living at all. Before she let herself think better of it, she turned on a heel and kicked a little spray of water right at him.
CHAPTER 12
One minute Dare was standing on the beach, trying to keep himself from giving in to Haven’s innocent playfulness. The next he was wet from forehead to knees from Haven splashing him.
She actually splashed him.
His reaction was pure instinct. He took off like a shot, bolting toward her like a wild animal after its prey.
Haven’s beautiful face went from uncertain to startled to amused, and on a scream and a laugh she turned and ran, her feet kicking up water as she cut through the shallows.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” she yelled between laughs.
Dare just ran faster, not even caring as his boots hit the water’s edge. She didn’t have a chance in hell of outrunning him, and he wasn’t giving up the chase until he had her in his arms—and made her pay.
A burst of laughter exploded out of her as she veered back and forth, pleading words spilling haltingly from her lips. And then Dare clasped his arms around her upper body, hauled her in against him, and took them both down to the sand right at the water’s edge. He turned his body so that he took the brunt of the fall, bringing Haven down on top of him. The chase and the challenge and the closeness had him rock hard in an instant. Not surprising, since he’d been sporting a semi since she’d straddled his bike, spread her legs around him, and taken him into her arms.
“You splashed me,” he said, eyebrow arched, hand fisted around the long braid in her hair.
Wearing a grin so open and carefree that it made his chest feel suddenly too small for his heart, Haven nodded. “Oops.”
“You think that’s funny?” he asking, growing harder as she shifted her weight, making her belly grind against his hard-on.
A small gasp of recognition, and she bit down on her lip as the cast of her eyes went from playful to aroused. “A little,” she said in a breathy voice. She licked her lips.
Dare couldn’t help but track the movement, and want to suck the trail of moisture she left there off the plump, pink skin.
What the fuck was he doing?
Haven’s hands gripped his shoulders, and she subtly shifted her weight again, pulling herself up his body—just a little, but enough that her lower belly now pressed and thrust against his cock. And Jesus if the need blazing out of those bright blue eyes wasn’t crystal clear.
For a split second, Dare thought of Haven’s list, her lie of omission, the expression she’d worn on her face when he’d made her come. And what he wanted to do ran roughshod over what he should do.
Startling a high-pitched gasp from her, Dare flipped their positions so that she lay in the soft sand and his body lay partially over hers. With his forehead against hers, he nailed her with a stare. “You sure you want to provoke me?” His left hand dragged down her body, over the small mounds of her breasts and the flat plane of her stomach. His fingers settled on the button to her jeans. “Because you realize now I have to exact my revenge.” He paused there, giving her the chance to tell him to back off.
She shivered beneath him. “I guess fair’s only fair,” she whispered.
That’s my girl, he thought, even though the sentiment was really problematic. On all kinds of levels. “You want me to stop, Haven, you just say the word.”
“Don’t stop,” she said, her lips parting, her breathing coming faster.
On a groan, Dare claimed her mouth with his. He tugged the button to her jeans free, yanked down the zipper, and pushed his hand beneath the snug material to find her hot and so damn slick.
Her tongue stroked against his, and he swallowed her moans as his fingers stroked her folds. She rocked her hips and parted her legs without him having to ask, pulling a growl of approval from low in his throat—and making him know that fingering her wasn’t going to be enough. Not for him.
Not this time. And not that it had really been last time, either.
Dare wanted more of Haven. He wanted to taste her, drink her down, wear her on his skin. On his mouth.
Kissing her long and hard and deep, he gently withdrew his hand from between her legs and pushed at the denim around her waist. Haven clued in to what he was doing and helped him push down the material until she was naked to her knees.
And then Dare shoved down her body, gripped her hips in his hands, and planted his face against the triangle of blond hair at the junction of her thighs. His tongue pushed between her slick lips, and she nearly bowed up off the sand beneath him. Jesus she was magnificent and honest and responsive in ways that made him want more, want everything.
He held her hips to his mouth as she thrashed and jerked and thrust beneath him. He flicked his tongue against h
er clit, relentless and demanding. Her taste was all sweet female musk, and he relished every drop he drew from her. Haven’s body strained and her knees parted as much as they could, given the way he was holding and pinning her.
“Oh my God, oh my God,” she moaned again and again, her hand lightly falling atop his head.
“That’s it, Haven,” he groaned before plunging his tongue between her folds again.
“Dare,” she rasped, her thighs shaking, her fingers winding into his hair.
The sound of his name from her mouth made his balls heavy and full. Christ, he wanted to bury himself inside her little body and ride her hard, fast, deep.
An urge that got about a million times stronger when she bucked into his mouth, pulled his hair, and screamed his name in an orgasm that sounded so good it nearly made him come, too.
Fucking beautiful.
Shaking and breathing hard, several long moments passed before Haven’s muscles relaxed and her hold on his hair loosened. His scalp burned from the pull, but he loved every second of the way she’d both let go and held on tight. Held on tight to him.
That she’d let him expose her, that she’d trusted him to do right by her, that she’d given herself over so freely to him—it all blew his goddamned mind.
Haven pushed against Dare’s shoulders, and he let her force him up onto an elbow. Looking him in the eye, she scooted down and trailed her hand over his abdomen to his groin. With a shaky touch that said she wasn’t sure he’d like it, she palmed his cock through his jeans, rubbing and squeezing in a way that made him a little crazy.
He liked it, all right.
God, how he wanted to let her have her way, how he wanted to see exactly what she wanted to do, how he wanted her hands and her mouth and her body all over him.
Except there was that damn looming confrontation to consider, wasn’t there?
He stilled her hand. Pushed it away. Shook his head, hating the shadows of confusion and rejection that passed behind her eyes. But he couldn’t let her give him pleasure—well, any more than he’d already received from pleasuring her. Not when he was the one now withholding information.