by Hannah Ford
“Kallie—“
She started towards the dealership to find that smarmy sales guy. “Don’t you dare leave without me, Hunter!” she yelled back at him, walking at a fast pace to the showroom doors, opening the door (and distantly hearing the bell tinkling overhead). “Can someone find me a helmet for a test drive?” she called.
The salesman came running over, telling her how much she was going to love it and not to worry, the Suzuki bikes were some of the safest bikes in the world, etc. etc. Meanwhile, he was finding the correct sized helmet for her.
Eventually he gave her a cheap-looking red helmet that wouldn’t have been her first choice fashion wise, but she didn’t really care. Kallie wanted to get back to Hunter and prove him wrong.
She headed back outside, and Hunter was nowhere to be seen.
She couldn’t believe it. He’d taken off and left her, despite the fact that she’d told him not to.
For a brief second, she was so angry she couldn’t see straight. And then she heard the sound of a revving engine behind her. Spinning around, she saw Hunter astride the motorcycle, slowly puttering towards her.
“I thought you left me here!” she shouted over the engine.
He rolled up next to her and stopped, flipping up the tinted visor on his helmet and looking her up and down. “You sure you want to do this, Kallie?”
“I’m more than sure.”
“Okay, then. I’ll take it slow, I promise.”
“Don’t do anything different on my account, Hunter.”
“Hop on board,” he said, flipping his visor down again and resettling himself on the bike. First, she pulled the helmet on and looked around. Her head felt heavy and strange with this enormous thing covering her. It was a little unsettling, but she told herself that she wasn’t driving, so it didn’t matter.
Kallie walked behind Hunter, slung one leg awkwardly over the seat and then used her hand to grip his shoulder, pulling herself astride the lumbering, metal vehicle.
He reached back and took hold of her wrist, pulling her arm around his waist. She wrapped her other arm around his midsection, and now she was holding him tightly from behind.
The position was strangely intimate, and she was suddenly aroused.
It was exciting. Hunter was exciting. She was alive, she was wide-awake and her entire body was thrumming with vibrations from the motorcycle beneath her. But inside, her body was thrumming with an entirely different kind of vibration—she was giddy and happy to be so close to Hunter, to feel his body, to be able to be next to him, enjoying the sensations of him, and to know that right now it was just the two of them and nothing else really mattered.
As he slowly rolled forward and began gathering speed, she tightened her grip around him a little more. Inside her helmet, she was smiling.
And then they shot out of the parking lot of the dealership and started driving along the winding road, and Kallie could feel the wind against her, but Hunter was in front, taking the brunt of the wind resistance.
She was strangely protected—almost safer than she’d ever felt before in her life—it wasn’t possible, and yet she knew it was very real at some level. She knew suddenly that there was much more to Hunter than the posturing bad boy, more to him than the tortured artist—the waters with him ran deeper than perhaps anyone she’d ever met.
Is it so wrong that I want to dive down into those waters, swim as far as the eye can see, and then go deeper and deeper below the surface, until I discover what’s really at the bottom?
They continued down the road, moving along at a fair clip, but nothing awe-inspiring. She could tell that Hunter was driving slow, perhaps so as not to overwhelm her.
She leaned forward as much as possible.
He sensed the shift of her weight and leaned back. “Are you okay?” he yelled back at her, slowing down even more.
“Yes!” she cried. “Go faster!”
“This is fine,” he told her.
“No, I want to go fast!”
She could feel him shaking against her, as he laughed at the request. Suddenly he was opening the throttle and they were accelerating so rapidly that Kallie closed her eyes for a few seconds. The wind was pounding around her shoulders and head as she simultaneously shrank down and tightened her grip on Hunter’s waist.
When she opened her eyes again, they were streaking down an empty street and everything was a blur. The trees were merely green and brown streaks, the road itself was just gray, like the choppy waters of the ocean. The engine was so loud in her ears that she couldn’t even think about communicating with Hunter, unless maybe she pinched him or something.
Instead, Kallie hung on for dear life and tried to enjoy the ride.
As the minutes passed, she found that her heart rate was slowing just a little bit, and she was able to look and observe the world around her more clearly.
Maybe, she thought, this whole driving fast thing had its good points. It was definitely a rush, as Hunter had told her it would be. She felt like a battery that had been charged up to full strength. Her senses were on alert, her eyes were clear, her thoughts were focused.
The one thing she’d figured out from this little expedition was that she couldn’t say her feelings for Hunter had ebbed even a tiny bit. She wanted him more than ever, she wanted to touch him like this and be close to him like this again.
After a few more minutes, they returned back to the dealership.
Hunter pulled the bike up to where the salesman had initially left it, and then stood in one place with the motor idling. Kallie got off, and she continued to feel the vibrations through her buttocks and stomach. It was like getting off a boat and still sort of feeling like you were on sea legs or something. She pulled her helmet off and shook her hair out.
The engine turned off, and Hunter was soon standing next to her, his helmet under one arm. “Gets the blood flowing, doesn’t it?”
She nodded, still catching her breath. “That was…something.”
“Did you hate it?”
She looked up at him and brushed the hair from her face. “The helmet gave me static cling, but other than that, it was pretty awesome.”
Hunter grinned. “Color me surprised.”
“I’m not as ordinary as you seem to think I am.”
“I never said you were ordinary.”
She could feel her cheeks getting red as Hunter stared into her eyes. She knew what that look meant—it was the same one he’d given her in bed. “Maybe you didn’t say it, but you implied.”
Not too long after, the salesman saw them and wandered out to check in on their test drive. “So?” he asked, squinting into the sun. “Did it go well?”
Hunter nodded. “Very well. One of the best rides of my life. Of course, some of that’s probably do to my companion, but I really liked the way it handled. I’m going to purchase it.”
The salesman looked temporarily surprised. “Okay, so—you’re going to finance it—“
“No. I’ll pay cash, right now.”
That being said, the two men began walking toward the shop while Kallie stood there, unsure what to do. Hunter turned and looked back at her. “Aren’t you coming?” he asked.
***
The motorcycle was paid for, and there was just the question of what to do next. Hunter glanced at Kallie as the salesman handed him the keys and papers. “It’s all yours, Mister Reardon,” the salesman said.
“I’d really like to bring the motorcycle back to my place today,” Hunter mused aloud. “Kallie, would you mind driving my car, so I can drive my new bike home?”
Such a seemingly innocent request, she thought, and yet it was fraught with many hidden perils. “I don’t know,” she said. “I probably shouldn’t be gone so long.”
“Let me check with Red,” he told her.
“No, Hunter—“ she started.
He held up one finger and made the phone call over her protests. “Hi Red, sorry to disturb you,” he said into the cell. “It’s Hun
ter Reardon….Yes….I was just wondering. I’ve just purchased a motorcycle and was hoping to have your assistant Kallie drive my car so that I can transport the cycle back to my house. She was concerned that she’d be gone too long and that you might be in need of her…yes…yes…” Hunter laughed, a phony, obnoxious laugh that reminded Kallie of Brad Danvers and the way he’d thought he could just manipulate her into being his sex toy. Hunter was making her feel like a pawn in his game and she didn’t much like it.
“And you might have some time for an interview later?” Hunter continued, oblivious to the annoyance written on Kallie’s face. He paused, nodding his head. “Great. Perfect, actually. Okay. Bye, now.” He hung up and slid the phone in his pocket. “Red says that sounds fine. I can bring you to the hospital at six o’clock tonight, because he’s planning on making some time for me to do the first part of my interview with him.”
“Well, maybe I don’t want to drive your car back to your place,” she said coolly.
“Why not?”
“Because, I know what you’re trying to do, Hunter.”
He smirked. “Please enlighten me as to my ulterior motives, Kallie. I’m so curious what devious new plan I’ve cooked up.”
“Don’t mock me,” she said. “You’re trying to seduce me and it’s transparent.”
His eyes darkened and his face grew tight. “What’s transparent here is that you’re afraid of admitting your true feelings. But I’m not blind. I can see that you know what we have. I can see that you’re fighting your own emotions at every turn.”
“I’m not fighting anything,” she lied. “And you’re completely arrogant and obnoxious.” She walked back to the car. “I’m not going home with you, Hunter. I’m not sleeping with you again. You told me what you want from me and I’m not going to do it.”
Hunter approached her as she stood by the car with her arms folded.
“Just take me home, please,” she said to him.
He stood near her, leaning on the hood as she waited by the passenger door.
Hunter watched her with calculated interest. “I thought we were having fun.”
“We were,” she agreed. “But then you always find a way to twist it into something else. Why are you so intent on getting me back to your house?”
“Nothing has to happen back at my house. Are you afraid I’ll try and force myself on you, Kallie?”
She looked into his eyes. She wasn’t afraid of him forcing himself on her. Quite the opposite—she was afraid she wouldn’t be able to resist him if they were back at his place, and she knew that bed was right upstairs. The same bed where he’d taken her to places that she’d never imagined possible.
“I’m not afraid of you,” she said, softly. “But I do think you’re very manipulative, Hunter.”
“I’m just trying to spend time with you,” he said. “I think you enjoy spending time with me.”
“You’re just so hot and cold.”
Suddenly, he reached out and put a hand on her wrist, lightly. “I’ll be warmer, then,” he said, his voice low. A charge of electricity shot up her arm from where he’d touched her.
“Don’t,” she whispered, pulling away.
“Why?”
She looked up at him again. “You told me what you want from me. I can’t be a part of that kind of relationship. It’s an abomination. It’s against everything I believe.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“Yes.”
“Give me one night, Kallie.”
She sighed and threw her head back and screamed in frustration. “Why are you so persistent?”
“Because, I want you. And when I want something, I go after it with everything in my power. And I’ve never wanted anything in my life as badly as I want you.” He said it without batting an eyelash.
“If you want me so badly, you’d break one or two of your little rules for me.”
“First, we have to play by the rules before we can break them.”
She smiled. She loved that he enjoyed this banter between them. She could see it in his eyes. He liked the back and forth, verbal jousting. Kallie had never dealt with a man who was as challenging as Hunter, and she had to admit that she found his advances flattering and extremely exciting.
Couldn’t I have just one night with him? She wondered. Couldn’t I just be with him again and see if there’s something there? Maybe I can get him to relax some of his weird rules for me.
And then a light bulb went on. It occurred to her that there really might be a compromise here, and she was proud of herself for discovering it. The realization made her break out in a grin.
“What are you thinking?” Hunter asked. “I can see the wheels turning up there.”
“I’m thinking that I might have found a solution to our problem.”
“I’m listening.”
“You’d have to be willing to compromise.”
His brow creased. “I don’t like that word.”
“I’m sure you hate it, but it’s the only way,” she said.
He folded his arms. “Go ahead, talk.”
“I’ll give you from now until you take me back to the hospital tonight to do whatever you want with me.”
His eyebrows rose in surprise. “You’re kidding.”
“I’ll be yours. You can show me what you have in mind. Two test drives in one day,” she smiled.
He shook his head. “One minute you’re this demure little flower, and then suddenly you turn on a dime and everything’s out the window.”
She smiled, liking the feeling of having him off balance for once. “But there’s a catch,” she said.
“Of course there is.”
“The catch is that you have to answer my questions. You have to talk to me about yourself.”
He shook his head. “I don’t have any interest in being psychoanalyzed, Kallie.”
“Who said anything about that? I just want to get to know you.”
“I’ll only answer questions about the present,” he said. “Nothing about my past.”
“What’s the big deal? What are you hiding?”
“Take it or leave it. If you agree then we have a deal. Otherwise, no deal.”
“But you’ll tell me anything I want to know about the present—no exceptions,” she said. “Promise?”
“I promise.”
“I guess we have a deal,” she said.
***
Kallie would have to wait to ask her questions about Hunter, though, as the two of them drove separately back to his house, which was located just outside of Newport, Rhode Island. Taking a helicopter there and back the on her first visit had made it seem like something that had existed off in its own world. In reality, he had a fancy house that was not far away from all the other fancy houses.
Now she had all the time in the world to think about what might happen next, as she watched Hunter drive his motorcycle just a few yards in front of her.
She’d been impulsive at the dealership, and the further away they got from it, and the more time passed by, the greater her doubts grew. It would have helped some if Hunter had at least been in the car with her, talking, laughing and joking.
But all she had was the silence of the car and a view of Hunter’s back as he rode implacably forward, leading her closer and closer to his castle, the place where she’d agreed to let him have his way with her.
Kallie didn’t know what had possessed her to strike this little bargain with him. Was it really worth trading in her own values and self esteem, simply to have the “honor” of asking Hunter a question or two about his personal life?
She laughed aloud, snorting at her own stupidity as she drove. To make matters worse, she’d even let him stick that caveat in about limiting the personal questions to the present. So now she wouldn’t even be able to ask him about his childhood, the writing of Blue Horizon, or any of the things that probably would have shed the most light on who he was as a person.
And besides, why was it so
important to her that Hunter tell her about himself? It made her seem needy and weak, that she was willing to barter away her body in exchange for some information about Hunter’s favorite food or what he did on the weekends for fun.
Kallie cursed herself for falling into his trap, and then she cursed Hunter for being the kind of man that made her want to fall into his trap in the first place. She knew that the bottom line was, she had only succumbed to his tricks because she desperately wanted him.
There was no other good reason.
Before long, they were getting off the main road and starting their journey toward his house. She could see the hill and his castle atop it, in the near distance. It was like a beacon, calling to her. Just seeing it there, rising above the rest of the land, made her insides churn with nervous expectation.
She flashed on images and sensations from their last encounter. His lips on her breasts, his hands all over her body, pinning her arms against the bed—how she’d wanted him to go harder still. He’d slammed his body into hers ferociously at the end of their lovemaking, and she’d felt ravaged, but pleasantly so, if such a thing were possible.
As she followed Hunter up the narrower road that climbed the hill to his home, she wondered if she’d actually have the guts to follow through on this whole thing. She was getting cold feet, feeling anxious and wondering if this whole endeavor was just a colossal mistake.
They parked, and she turned off the ignition, sitting in the driver’s seat of Hunter’s car and gathering her courage. She was trembling a little bit, watching Hunter dismount his motorcycle, remove his helmet and turn to look at her. He waved at her, smiling, but she felt frozen in place.
It was like a bad dream.
Wait a minute, Kallie thought. Didn’t I make myself promise again and again that I wouldn’t get close to Hunter Reardon? Didn’t I force myself to remember how cruel and distant he could be, and the way he insisted on our relationship meeting only his specifications, with no regard to what I want?
So how am I sitting here right now? She wondered.
It was as if he’d cast a spell on her.
She slowly emerged from the car, blinking and smiling uncertainly.