by Claire Adams
"It's the engine. The transmission I think he said." I pulled the button to the hood and got out of the car as the icy winter wind slammed into me. "Shit."
I had no clue what I was doing, but like anyone else with little to no sense at all, I walked to the front of the car and popped the hood. My large winter coat helped to stave off the freezing cold, but my fingers burned with stiffness almost immediately.
I looked around the engine at the various wires and parts, searching for some quick fix on the car, yet having no fucking idea what to even look for. The sound of someone pulling up behind me gave me a jolt of hope, and I moved around to my side of the car as a dark figure parked his bike behind the car and walked toward me.
"Car trouble?" His voice was deep and slightly raspy.
"Nope. I just decided to hang out for the night. I was going to start a fire and roast marshmallows. You want a s’more?" I kicked myself internally for being an ass. What’s wrong with me?
"Right." His warm brown eyes caught my attention. He was handsome, but didn't look like the kind of guy who cared much for looks – or anything else for that matter. "Let me check the engine. Is it turning over at all?"
"Turning over?" I moved up beside him and tried not to notice how good he smelled. Various tattoos danced down his arms and played peekaboo under the collar of his heavy leather jacket.
He pulled off his gloves and shoved them in his pocket as he turned and studied me. He was rough looking, but incredibly sexy. The strength of his gaze left me wanting to blush, but it wasn't intimate, just probing. He was looking for answers about the car and nothing else.
"Turning over? No. I just pulled it to the side. It didn't flip or even skid, really." I kept my tone unfriendly, though I hated myself for doing it. Here the guy was willing to help me in the middle of a snowstorm, and I was acting like a bitch. It was a defense mechanism. I hated strangers simply for the fact that like everyone else in my life, they were probably judging me.
"No, princess. Not flipping over. When you try and start the car, does it make a sound?" He stood up and lifted his dark eyebrow at me. "Go try and start it for me."
"Princess?" I grumbled as I walked back to the car and got in. The image of his face stayed with me as I tried to start the car and nothing happened. He had short brown hair trimmed tightly to his head and the makings of a five o'clock shadow. I wanted to know his name, but it wasn't for the right reasons, so I wouldn't be asking.
He tapped on the window, and I opened the door.
"It's the battery. It's completely dead." He lifted his hands to his mouth and breathed into them. "Did you know that your back tire is going flat, too?"
"No." I let out a sigh and worked to not act nearly as dramatic as I wanted to. "Okay. Well, thanks, anyway. I appreciate you stopping."
"Let me give you a ride back to your place or somewhere. You can't just sit out here and freeze to death." His eyes moved across me slowly, leaving me to feel almost bare in front of him. Some part of me wanted to get on the back of his bike just to see how it would feel to live a little. "You going to a party? A date? I'll drop you off there. There's no way I'm leaving you out here."
"No. Thanks, though. I'll call my friends. They're just up the road. Honestly." I gave him a tight smile and took the card he pulled from his back pocket. "I don't even know you, and I'm not getting on your bike."
A smirk lifted his kissable lips as he nodded. "I get it, but call my cell if you don't get picked up soon. The storm is only going to get worse. I'm Tate, by the way, and the address on the front is the garage I work at. Bring the car by tomorrow and I'll put a new tire on it for free. You just gotta buy the tire."
He gave me a friendly smile, and my heart fluttered in my chest in a way that left me more concerned than comforted.
"You don't have to do this." I lifted the card, suddenly feeling even more like shit for being rude to him. "My parents are really wealthy. I'll just bring the car by and pay you for the tire and your time. I owe you that much, at least."
His expression hardened just a little, and his curt nod said that he knew my kind all too well.
"I know I don't have to. I want to. Some things have nothing to do with money and everything to do with putting goodwill into the world. It's still free to be nice." He smiled and turned, closing the hood of my car and waving as he walked back to his bike.
I closed the door and let out a long sigh as I dialed Amy's number. He was right. Why the hell did I feel the need to mention that my parents were wealthy? Why would that matter to anyone? It certainly didn't matter to me.
Disgust rolled over me, but I swallowed it down. I didn't need another internal shit storm to deal with. I had enough to concern myself with as it was.
"Tate. Rugged, sexy, philanthropic mechanic Tate." I lifted the card to my face as my heart fluttered again. "Wonder what your tats look like beneath that coat."
My mother would have died to even know that I was wondering about such a low-class type of guy. A mechanic. I loved the thought of making her squirm.
"Where are you? You here?" Amy's voice was loud, and I jerked the phone from my ear.
"No, I'm stuck on the side of the road on the way to the party. My car died. Come get me? Please?" With my parents being millionaires, there was no reason for me to be sitting in a broke down car, and yet my mother wanted to prove a point in not getting me a new car just yet. I could almost hear her voice in my ear.
Good things come to those who strive to be the best. Work harder, and you'll get what Allison got.
Amy's voice pulled me from my thoughts. "Hell, yeah. I'll be there in a minute. I gotcha on track my phone. Just stay put and no talking to strangers."
"Even sexy ones on a bike?" I looked out my window as Tate pulled back onto the road beside me. His hand lifted in the air, and a smile touched my mouth.
"Um, save that one for me. Your mother would kill you if you started dressing in leather, and those guys expect it." She laughed.
"And, you'd dress in leather for one of them? Do you even own anything made of leather?" I pictured Amy giving me a look. She was about sixty pounds overweight, and while I thought she was breathtaking and feminine, she hated her size. Leather would not be in her wardrobe.
"For a man with tats and greasy hands, I'd find something to wear." She laughed again, and we continued to play around until she drove up beside me.
I got into her car and buckled up before sliding my hands into my pockets and cupping the business card Tate had given me. It was probably a huge mistake to go visit his shop, but I couldn't help but pay attention to the excitement at the thought of seeing him again. It was silly and meant nothing, but with so few rays of light in my day, I was willing to cling to the promise of that nothingness.
Chapter 4
Tate
I couldn't seem to shake the pretty girl's face. I hadn't been smart enough to get her name while I checked under her hood. She was bitchy, which I couldn't exactly blame her for being. It was fucking freezing outside and she was stuck on the side of the road. Her mood calmed quickly as she got back into the car, and I couldn't help but chuckle at how cute she'd been in misunderstanding my questions about the car. She wasn't kidding about being a kept woman, but something wasn't right. She looked very much the princess part from her perfectly styled hair to her flawless skin.
No rich girl's daddy would let her drive around a ten-year-old car that had transmission and battery problems.
Unless she didn't mention it to the old man.
I pressed the gas on my bike and dodged around a bit of traffic before reaching the party. Sam had taken his truck and was for sure looking for me by now. I was twenty minutes late and had felt my phone buzz in my pocket multiple times.
Worry ran through my insides as I parked the bike inside the large garage and rubbed my hands together. I moved my walk into a jog and got into the house as quickly as I could. It was freezing out there.
Why did you leave her? She's probably freezi
ng to death.
"There you are. Shit, man. I was starting to worry." Sam clamped his hand down on my shoulder and handed me a cup of beer. "You get lost in the storm?"
"Nope. I found a beautiful girl on the side of the road and stopped to offer help." I wagged my eyebrows and took the cup as I let my eyes scan the room. I didn't know anyone, but Sam did. He seemed to know everyone everywhere we went.
"Oh, yeah? Did you get her number or did she pay you in full then and there?" He smirked, and I could tell by the glossiness in his eyes that I was going to be loading the fucking bike into the back of his truck and driving us both home. The poor guy couldn't hold his liquor.
"No, I gave her my number and did the gentlemanly thing. She was high-class. Way outta my league." I took another drink of the beer and nodded toward the living room. "Anyone worth hitting on tonight?"
"Yep. There's a ton of people out on the back patio. They have heat lamps set up out there. Some of the bedrooms are open, too. They said just lock the door if you're gonna be using the room and don't take long." He picked up a handful of popcorn and tossed it at his mouth, missing terribly. Popcorn landed all over the floor at his feet.
I walked to the closet to look for a broom and started to reprimand him, but found two girls making out as I opened the door.
"Oh. Sorry, ladies." I licked at my lips and reached around one of them to grab a broom.
"Hmmm, you're hot. Come on in here with us." One of them reached for me, but I grabbed her hand, kissed it, and put it back on her friend.
"Maybe in a few minutes." I closed the door and turned back to see Sam watching me with his mouth hanging open.
"Wow. Why do you always score? It's almost unfair." He moved back and lifted his beer to his lips.
"They're too young for me, idiot." I swept up the popcorn and threw it away before patting his chest. "Do not leave without me tonight. Got it? I'm serious. Don't leave me here, or I'll find you and beat the tar out of you."
"Alright. Shit. Don't leave without you. I got it." He gave me a goofy grin and moved toward the living room. "Come on. Let me introduce you to some people."
I followed him, downing the rest of my beer. We stopped by the keg in the hallway near the back door before walking out into a large crowd of people. The music was loud, but fun and drew me in quickly. I loved to dance, and any chance to do it had me sold on looking like an idiot – as if I cared.
"That’s Jessica and Bart. They're in my history class." Sam glanced back at me as he pointed to a nerdy couple in the corner.
"Great. I'm going to dance with some of the girls. Hold my beer?" I took another drink and handed it to him.
"Yeah. You bet." He took a drink of his and then mine as I pulled off my jacket and dropped it in the pile of coats in the chair next to me.
A dark-haired beauty turned and crooked her finger at me. She was the one I'd be taking upstairs, without a doubt. Her “come and fuck me” eyes left my cock hardening almost immediately.
"Hi, stranger." She slid her hands up my chest as I pulled her against the front of me. She was nice and thick and would prove to be a great bed mate for the evening. I could only hope she was at the party for the same reason I was.
"I'm Tate. What's your name, pretty girl?" I leaned in and brushed my lips by her ear, enjoying very much the way she gasped softly at my intimate contact.
"Elise." She rolled her hips and brushed her tummy over my erection as her hands dug into the back of my neck. "I've just gotten out of a shitty relationship and need a rebound. You up for the job?"
"We talking dinner and movie or a long fuck upstairs in a bit?" I moved my body against hers as I slid my hands over the top curve of her ass and squeezed tightly.
"Dinner and movies are so drab." She brushed her nose by my jaw, followed by her full lips.
"I guess it just depends on the mood." I slid my hands up her sides, making sure to brush my thumb over the swell of her tits before spinning her to face away from me. "I'm in the mood for a few beers and the challenge of making the right girl groan my name."
She pressed her ass against me and moved sensually, leaving my body screaming for full contact. The image of the pretty brunette I'd helped rushed by my mind's eye, and my body hardened more as lust burst through me. The girl on the side of the road had to have been every fantasy I'd had for the last ten years. She was taller than most girls, but it fit the dominant look of her features. Her breasts were big enough to catch my attention, and her tight jeans looked damn good on her shapely legs.
But it was the neediness in her sea-green eyes. She needed someone to save her, and fuck, if I didn't want it to be me. I could almost see her smiling at me, could almost hear her laughter. She was broken and needed a man like me to remind her that she was seen, desired.
"I'm that girl." The sexy girl rubbing herself against me pulled me from my thoughts and forced me back into my reality. I was soon to take yet another stranger upstairs for a quick fuck, and while it was happening, some part of me wished I didn't desire the touch of another. But I did, and I would continue to whore myself out just to feed my need.
"Yeah, you are, baby." I licked at the side of her neck before sliding my hands over her tight stomach and petting her mound over her skirt. "You ready to head up there, or you need a little more convincing?”
I loved the sound of her panting, simply because it was heady. Powerful.
"Let's go." She moved from my hold and reached back for my hand. "I like it rough. Good?"
"Perfect." I walked toward the house, stopping only to grab my beer from Sam. "Do not leave without me. Got it?"
"Yeah." His voice was airy as he turned and took in Elise. "Wow."
"Find a girl and try our line on her." I chuckled as I finished the beer and tried not to be dragged across the porch by the needy woman in front of me.
I pulled my hand from hers and checked in my pocket for condoms before nodding for her to go ahead. I'd catch up. I moved back out and grabbed my jacket, now prepared for a good time. A woman with chestnut hair and a great ass caught my attention from across the porch. She had the same build as the girl on the side of the road earlier, and I couldn't help but feel a rush of excitement.
I didn't hesitate to walk across to the porch and touch the back of her shoulder. "Excuse me."
She turned and her face lit up, but it wasn't the same girl. "Oh, wow. You're beautiful."
"Thanks, I think?" I laughed and lifted my beer toward her. "Cheers. Thought you were a friend of mine."
"I'd like to be." She gave me a cute smile and lifted her beer.
I turned and moved through the crowd of people, not letting the girl’s comment or anyone else's penetrate me. My looks had nothing to do with anything. They would fade over time. It was my heart I wanted someone to see, but I thought to say that or let anyone know left me looking like less of the man society expected me to be.
I jogged up the stairs and hesitated outside of the various closed doors in the hall.
"Fuck. Why didn't I just make her wait for me?" I tried the first knob and found it locked, thankfully. I hated like hell to walk in on people, and yet I'd been to enough parties to have seen more than my fair share of people fucking.
Elise poked her head out of the room at the far end of the hall. "Tate, down here."
"Thank God." I walked toward her and slipped into the room as she wrapped herself around me. She didn't have anything but a pair of tiny black panties on – and those would soon be discarded, as well.
Her tongue pressed into my mouth as she half crawled up my body. I gripped her ass and forced her to open her legs and wrap them around me as I pressed into the kiss, sucking hard on her tongue.
She cried out as my fingers slipped just under the material keeping me from her most sensitive spot.
"I need to taste you," she whispered against my lips, and I nodded.
"Yeah, you do." I dipped a finger into her and pressed it in a little. "Then, I'm gonna fuck you real nice and h
ard."
"Please," she whimpered as I moved to the bed and sat her down. It didn't take her long to have my pants to my knees and her mouth spread over my cock, sucking and licking as if her life depended on it.
I gripped a large handful of her black hair and used my hold on her to fuck her properly. She was a pro and I'd met my match for the evening, which was good and bad. It would be a great ride, but I'd probably limp away with my heart aching for something more than another one-night stand.
The brunette appeared in my thoughts again, and I loosened my hold on Elise's hair. My fingers brushed by her pretty face lovingly, soft.
"Rougher." She looked up at me and growled.
"Right." I gripped her again and jerked her off my cock before manhandling her onto the bed. She fought against me a little, slapping at my chest and acting as if she didn't want to be pressed to the bed below me.
I moved off the bed and worked on a condom as she lifted her ass into the air and shook it at me.
"Make me scream," she groaned as I grabbed her ass and crawled up on the bed behind her. "I don't want to feel anything but you fucking me."
"Good. Hold on tight, girl." I didn't work myself into her as I would most any other woman. I had a big cock and few women had been with someone of my size, but this girl was asking for depravity. I was happy to give it to her.
She screamed as she rose to her hands and pressed back against my thrusts, taking me in and shaking slightly as she came hard.
"Good girl." I didn't give her time to catch her breath before I started to take full advantage of the pleasure she offered me.
I wanted to make love to the pretty girl on the side of the road, but fucking the needy bitch beneath me would have to do for the night.
There was little chance that fate would align the stars in a way that would have me seeing the rich hottie-tottie that had stolen my thoughts again.