by Carmen Faye
“You think so? Then why the hell do you think I’d go for a ride with you, or go anywhere at all with you? Come to think of it, why would you even want to take a smart girl on a date? Isn’t it easier to trick high school girls into sleeping with you?”
Speed shook his head, starting to get pretty aroused at the way she kept taunting him with her smart mouth. “I don’t have to trick women into doing what I want, Darcy. Sure, I’ll fuck a high school girl if she’s legal. What honest man wouldn’t admit to that? But all the bitches I fuck come to me, all of them, two or three at a time. No trickery involved, sweetheart.”
“You’re trying to trick me right now. Does that make me special?”
That devilish smile was driving him crazy, and he got the feeling she knew it. Or maybe it was just that she was so confident that it made her naïve about how to real world worked. These athletes usually had their heads up in the clouds, too focused on being the best, living clean to smell the shit down where the rest of the world lived.
“You think you’re special, right? Isn’t that enough? Although, it’s cute you want my approval.” He wasn’t about to give her the satisfaction of knowing it, but that’s just why he’d been forced to use this stupid bet thing on her. Shit, he’d seen it in a movie a few years earlier. It hadn’t turned out too well for the couple in the end, but they sure got to do a lot of fucking. And he was feeling extra playful with this woman. Darcy had the potential to be a special type of woman.
You're not going to let yourself go soft just because you have a thing for some bitch you only just met, his inner macho man was telling him. Speed knew better than to think he had a heart of stone. The kind of biker who didn't show any emotions or have any intelligence never got to be leaders. Those guys just knew how to take what they wanted and hurt people. But they didn't survive on their own; they needed the thinkers to tell them what to do for that. Speed was a tough guy, harder than fuck, but he also knew better than to let an opportunity slip away from him.
Darcy looked like she might be a great opportunity, in more ways than one. Now all he needed to do was convince her to take a ride with him, get her somewhere private away from these prying eyes — and hope his charm would be enough to keep her interested. “You've come this far, why not come a little farther? I don't bite unless you ask me to.”
“That's what I'm afraid of,” she said.
“That I'll bite?”
“No…that I'll end up asking you to, in one way or another.”
Chapter Five
“I’m going to regret this, aren’t I?”
“Does it matter? Fun’s fun, okay?”
Darcy turned to maybe go back inside, but she stopped, went to turn back again. Why was she acting like an indecisive teenager? “I’ll tell Aubrey I’m leaving.” She remembered Steve was also inside, and couldn’t bare the idea of having to face him before going. He would be so disappointed in her. She pulled her phone out of her slim handbag and fired off a quick text to Aubrey instead:
Just going for a ride, talk to you later <3
She climbed on and put her arms around him. “Well, you’ve got me on your big bike. Show me why this is so much better than riding with your own two legs.”
She realized her breasts were pressing up against his solid back. As Speed started up the bike, the vibrations between the both of them made her nipples buzz gently with the movement. She moved herself back to stop the sensation, trying to avoid the utter manliness of Speed overtaking her. That was when she first considered there might actually be a chance she would lose their bet, which was absurd, and intriguingly frightening.
He took her down the strip, people busily making their way here and there, all walks of different types. She wanted to ask where they were going, but couldn’t manage to make herself heard over the heavy rumbling of the powerful bike between her legs. Her dress didn’t cover much and several guys, and a few gals, openly checked her out. The wind felt great on her bare skin, though, and it was thrilling when Speed would rev his engine and accelerate vigorously.
They pulled into the Wynn hotel, parking his bike in a reserved spot. This was when she should have been calling herself a taxi, telling him she wasn’t that kind of girl, going back to her good friend to finish their meal. But Aubrey would have surely left the place already, probably with tears in her eyes about Speed not being interested in seeing her. Darcy had already figured out that Aubrey had a thing for Speed, but there was surely more to all of this. Yeah, that was why she was following this guy, had ridden with him to a hotel when the sun wasn't even quite down yet; that's what she kept telling herself. It was her mission, after all: find out what Speed had to do with Aubrey and the race.
With so many thoughts racing through her head, Darcy chose to say, “What are we doing at a hotel?” It sounded naïve even to her, and he was probably thinking she was going to be some easy lay, ready to spread her legs just because he took her for a ride on a motorbike.
“It's just somewhere private to talk. No obligations to take things further. Just wait here a minute. Don't go anywhere.” He winked at her and walked over to the front desk, while Darcy stood in the entry way. He checked in at the front desk while Darcy hung back in the lobby area. She was a little embarrassed to be seen with a biker, and the staff seemed to know just who he was, and why he brought women to the up market hotel. It made her feel like a hooker or something.
“This better not get out,” she whispered to him. “We both know what it looks like to any casual observer.”
“Hey, these people are great about keeping things quiet. You think I would let them go blabbing about my business without consequences? Don't worry, it's totally safe. Besides, you're not here for any reason other than having a nice talk, right? Come on, let’s go,” he said with a keycard in his hand. “I always have a room ready, just in case.” They went down a hallway and came up to room number 69. It was not in sequence with the other numbers.
“Are there even this many rooms in the hotel?” Darcy asked. Speed shrugged as he used the keycard to gain entry to his hotel room. “I'm not sure, maybe…does it matter? I like to customize things to my liking, as you will find out. If you have something in your life that you would enjoy changing, why the fuck should you just put up with it?”
“Whatever. I guess that's the kind of attitude a guy like you would have about the world. Some people have to make do with what they have, because they can't just go around demanding things from other people.”
They went inside and Speed even held the door for her, closing it firmly once they were both inside the room. That latching sound from the door was like an omen, but Darcy couldn't tell what it was foretelling of her future.
“Okay, so maybe I do take what I want, whether or not it already belongs to another person. I want you, so by your logic, you'd better take your clothes off.”
“Wait, what the fuck do you think this is? Do I have to scream?”
“Calm down, calm down. Don't get your panties all in a bunch, woman. I don't need to force what I want when it comes to fucking. You'll find that out soon enough.”
The confidence of this guy was almost maddening, but Darcy was getting hornier every time he said something like that. In turn, that, too, was maddening, like he had some kind of hidden superpower that she was not only weak to, but also one she couldn't see or detect in any way.
Despite all that, Darcy was one stubborn woman. She knew there was no way this little meeting was going to lead to anything at all, apart from her getting the information she wanted, and Speed getting some very blue balls, if he were lucky. “You bring a lot of women here, then?”
“Shit, yeah. What, you think I’m a virgin? Look at me. We both know I'm a sexual god, right? Now, you wanna see how strong your willpower is, Darcy? Find out all about that race?” He walked in, taking her hand and leading her away from the door. The room wasn't huge, but it was obviously one of the nicest in the place. “I know it's not much, but this is a good hotel, a
nd the staff is very eager to please their wealthier guests.”
In the room, a nice one with double bed and a stocked minibar, Speed sat down. He invited her to follow him and as there was no sofa or comfortable chairs, she decided it was worth the risk just to be comfy. “I'm only sitting on the bed because I've had a big day with the race. I need to relax and let my muscles recover, okay? You're not going to get anything from me but questions, Speed. Do you understand that?”
He nodded with a grin as Darcy sat down on the big bed beside him. The sheets felt freshly changed and the mattress was soft but firm. Then, the bastard did something that threw her way off, but was not unwelcome, even though it was clearly all for show: he started to talk to her like a real human being. It was a sneaky move on his part, but one Darcy couldn't help but find genuine and endearing.
“Tell me more about your racing career. I've never been to a race like that before. I would never have cared to, to be honest, but you probably already guessed that.”
“You told me how stupid you think our racing is. If it doesn't have a big engine and make lots of noise, it must be totally lame, right?”
“Hey, you said it yourself. But I want to know why you do it, what gives you the thrills in racing that you need to want to compete?” Speed leaned back, resting the weight of his upper torso on his arms that extended down onto the bed. It made the mattress move and draw Darcy toward him slightly, on an angle. That was surely just an accident, but it seemed so perfectly timed that it might have been planned. Darcy shifted herself away, so she was not leaning in toward him.
“When you're riding your 'hog' or whatever it is you call it in your circles, are you really doing anything but steering and looking pretty?” she said with a defiant smirk.
“Okay, so you have to pedal. I get the same kind of thing from hitting the gym at our clubhouse. And then I get the thrill of pushing my bike as fast as it can go, out on the open road, faster than you could ever hope to get.”
Darcy thought about that for a bit, trying to figure out the best way to one-up him. “I could use the same logic and say I get the same thing driving my car. Of course, that doesn't let me compete, push my body to its limit, know I'm the only thing that can get me from the start line, over that finish line in first place.”
“It's about competing, then, not just the act of riding itself? That’s good.” Speed was getting more thoughtful with his questions, like he actually gave a shit what she had to say. Either the dumb brute thing was an act, and he was letting her see another side of him, or this right there was the act.
“Why’s that good? I can't figure you out, Speed, I have to admit. Before we came here, you were a stupid criminal to me and nothing more. Don't get me wrong, you haven't improved in my mind, not really. But what's with these bullshit questions? You don't care about this, do you? You must know how phony it all looks to me.”
“Yeah, so? I'm not going to keep judging something as pointless, not without taking the time to hear what it's all about. I'm an outlaw, but I'm not a stupid sheep. That's the whole point of living under your own rules, instead of following the ones society gives you. There are plenty of idiots who want to be ‘gangsters’ and shit, just so they can act tough and get into fights. Real MCs are about freedom and having your own goddamn brain, using it. So, am I allowed to ask what about cycling gets you off, or not?”
“I'm not going to be telling you about anything getting me off, thanks.”
“Well, tell me about making it big, then. Let's look at this from more of a business angle. What do you need to get to the next level in your career? I know you're not sponsored by anyone, or you would have had their logo on your ass and your bike or something.”
“You're right, I need a sponsor. Failing that, I need to somehow get a shitload of money of my own. That's not going to happen anytime in the near future, so, yes, I need a sponsor to throw money at me. That way, I can compete with the biggest riders out there. I know I could be the very best, if I could push it to the next level.”
Speed stood up and walked slowly across the plush carpet. He seemed to be thinking about this a lot, and took each step with concentrated purpose. “So, you have everything you need to become the best? Takes a lot of money, and that's really all that's stopping you?” he asked, grabbing a handful of booze bottles from the little fridge, and pouring the contents into two glasses of ice. “Here, drink this.”
“I just told you I’m training. I can’t. Do you have any idea how much sugar is in alcohol? I'm not trying to overload myself and get all bloated. Besides, it blunts my focus and makes me get lazy about training.”
“Suit yourself, I guess. Although, people who won't drink have always seemed fucked up to me. How can you trust a person who's never willing to let their guard down around you?”
“I've certainly never met any douchebags who drank, have you? You've figured out how to save the human race, Speed: let's just all get drunk all the time, and we can trust each other.” Darcy was happy with that come back, and Speed even gave a little shrug and relented on the topic.
“And I’ve never met any straight-edge dick heads who don’t touch a drop, have you? It's not your decision to stay sober if someone else has told you to do it. Tell me, does your coach make you stick to such a strict regime? Also, are you absolutely certain you won't partake in a drink with me? I'd love to see what you're like when you loosen up.” He pointed the drink, which he'd poured for her, at her again.
It was kind of tempting, especially after the stress from the race and everything that had been going on that afternoon. She did want to take the drink, and almost budged. But that would have only been a sign of weakness, something Darcy was not in the habit of displaying to strangers, especially when they were vying to prove who was the mentally tougher out of them. “No, I'd rather stay committed to my goal. Thanks for trying, though, but a few drinks wouldn't be enough for you to get what you're after, Speed. As for Steve, he doesn't force me to do anything. If I stopped showing that I was trying to be the best, he might not want to spend his time coaching me anymore, that's all. It's a free country, and don't you respect freedom oh so much?”
Speed shrugged. “Tell yourself whatever you like. I really don’t like that guy, though.” Speed downed his drink, and then took the other he’d filled for Darcy with him into the bathroom. He walked in there like he had some business to take care of, but left the door wide open. This guy wasn't going to do what it seemed was about to do, Darcy hoped.
She called out before he had had time to do anything but walk into the bathroom. “Do you think you could shut the door?”
Speed laughed. “I’m not taking a shit, don’t worry. Just getting the hot tub going. You’ll love this thing, they all do.”
That term, 'they all,' meaning all the sluts he'd brought back there to have his way with. It was becoming more and more apparent that Speed was only interested in trying to get her naked. If so, why hadn't she already run from the hotel room screaming? Was she really thinking of humoring this biker to the point where she'd go into the hot tub with him?
Darcy walked over to the bathroom door. “You’re acting like I’m going to get in there with you. Are you really that confident? Tell me what you’re doing to my friend.” She leaned against the doorframe and, surely enough, there was a hot tub in there. It was a nice one, as well, though she tried to hide any sign of being impressed by it. “Wow, you weren't just lying to get me to follow you in here.”
“Why would I want you to follow me in here if there was no hot tub? What, did you want to shower together? I could settle for that, too, I suppose. Who should get naked first?”
“Please, let's just keep our clothes on, okay? You're not fooling me with this overconfidence game, and I'm going to find out why you were at the race. Aubrey is a lot more important to me than any stupid games you're interested in playing.”
“Fine. We'll play it your way if you like – keep pretending you're not into me, if it makes you fee
l better. So…you must need a big sponsor to be going after the Tour de France, huh? Lot of money being thrown at the cyclists who qualify for that, right?”
“Well…of course,” she replied, “it makes sense that there's going to be a lot of money involved in something like that. But you already know this, I'm sure. Stop trying to act like you give a crap about me as a person, even while you're getting a hot tub filled and ready, which I'm not going to get in by the way. And yeah, I need money I don't have.” She hated to admit it to a guy who obviously had plenty of ill-gained cash. “Steve’s coaching me because he believed in me, knows I’ll get sponsored and be able to make it into the big leagues.”
Speed nodded and gestured for her to keep talking, while he tweaked the settings on the hot tub and waited for it to fill. He finished off his second drink, about eight little bottles in all. “I bet having some money in the first place would help you get a sponsor, right?”
“Yeah, it’s that whole catch-twenty-two thing. Gotta have money to get money.”