He’d never taken Leah for a ride on his bike. It had been deep into autumn the last time their paths had crossed, but that hadn’t been the reason why he’d never ridden with her. No, rather their impatience to be in whatever motel room he’d rented for the night had been to blame for their lack of interest in outside activities.
Leah looked the bike over as if trying to decide how best to get on as she slid her arms into his jacket.
“I get on first. Then you hold on to me to help leverage yourself up,” he said.
She nodded, not having met his gaze since making her statement a few moments ago.
Something happened today. Something more than just the breakdown of her car. He sensed it as surely as he sensed he wouldn’t be getting his jacket back anytime soon.
J.T. straddled the leather seat of the black 1983 FLH with the shovelhead motor, and waited. A few moments later he felt her hand on his shoulder as she got on behind him. As soon as she was settled into the passenger seat, which sat a few inches higher than his own, he opened up her foot pegs and told her to brace herself on them. Then he reached behind her and grasped her upper thighs, hauling her so that her crotch rested against his back. She gasped, her heat seeming to permeate the thin fabric of her slacks through the thicker denim of his jeans, nearly searing his skin.
“It’s safer that way,” he said, his words low. “Now put your arms around my waist.”
Leah hesitantly placed her fingers against the side of his waist. J.T. caught the limbs and curved them all the way around until her hands rested against his lower abdomen. The softness of her breasts pressed against his back through the opening in his jacket.
J.T. suppressed a groan. How many times had he imagined a moment like this one? Sitting on his bike with Leah behind him? Too many times to count.
He balanced the bike with his legs then released the sidestand, a quick squeeze of the clutch and push of the ignition and the motor growled under them, the seat vibrating from the power of the cycle.
He put on his clear night glasses to protect his eyes then flicked on the headlights, put the bike in gear and pulled out onto the road. “Where do you want to go?” he asked over his shoulder.
There was no answer. For a moment J.T. believed she hadn’t heard him. He was about to ask the question again when he felt her cheek against his back.
“Let’s just ride.”
J.T. squinted into the darkness, the sun little more than a pastel memory on the horizon. He turned left toward the colors, heading west and farther out of the city on the two-lane highway, empty and quiet at this time on a Monday evening, only the occasional house or farm breaking the recently tilled, flat farmland.
“How far do you want me to go?” he asked.
“I’ll let you know.”
He nodded then found a good, steady pace just below the speed limit and let the Harley hum.
THE COOL NIGHT AIR THREADED through Leah’s hair and stung her face as she turned directly into the oncoming wind. She’d never ridden on a motorcycle before and was surprised by the sense of freedom that engulfed her. There was no metal structure or windows around to protect her. Nothing to separate her from the air and nature all around. The seat vibrated beneath her, while between her legs J.T.’s solid body blocked her from taking too much wind. She watched the way his white T-shirt flattened against his muscles and knew he had to be cold. She began to move her hands from around his waist but he caught them in his left hand, preventing the move.
“I’m not going anywhere,” she said.
He reluctantly released her and she opened the borrowed jacket, bracketing his waist with the flaps and holding them in place with her arms as she snaked them back around to his front. She felt him relax more against her.
There. That was more like it.
Minutes ticked by as the motorcycle ate up the miles. On the back of J.T.’s bike, it was almost easy for Leah to believe that she was free to do as she wished. Free from the worries of everyday life. Free to ride off into the sunset with him. Free to love him.
She turned her face away from the wind and pressed her cheek against the back of his shoulder again. So strong. So solid. She took a deep breath, detecting the scent of soap and laundry detergent and his own individual musk. She slowly flattened her fingers against the rock-hard wall of his abdomen, and he tensed against her touch under the soft cotton. She felt his left hand grasp her knee and wondered if it was okay for him to do that. To release the handlebars. Then the warmth of his fingers penetrated her slacks and she no longer cared.
The air smelled of things growing, flowers blooming, fresh and new and invigorating. She hugged J.T. tighter, her breasts swelling against the wall of his back, her womanhood growing damp from the contact of her body against his. His grip on her knee increased briefly, then he slid his fingers farther up her thigh until he cupped her bottom. He pulled her closer still, his skin seeming to burn a hole straight through her slacks and branding her flesh.
Leah brushed her nose against his T-shirt then kissed him there. How good it felt to be able to do that. To just place a simple kiss to his back while his motorcycle roared beneath them, steadily eating up the two-lane road and heading for places unknown.
She continued blindly exploring the muscles of his abdomen, inching her fingers up toward his chest. He was even more muscular now than he’d been back then, if that was possible. All unyielding steel covered with silken flesh and cotton. She pointed her hands south and tugged on his shirt until she freed it from the waist of his jeans then slid her fingers underneath. She sensed his quick intake of breath and watched as goose bumps rode up his forearms.
“Are you cold?” she asked.
He shook his head. “Honey, with you touching me, I could never be cold.”
She smiled against his back and then edged her fingertips into the waist of his jeans, immediately finding his arousal pulsing there. She swallowed hard, the proof of his desire for her even while riding together taking her breath away more than the speed they were traveling at. She began to draw away, then discovered she didn’t have the strength to do it. She wanted, no needed, to touch him.
She popped the top button of his jeans then worked her fingers inside the waistband of his briefs, her skin cool against his hot, rigid flesh. His hand tightened on her bottom and she cried out, all coiled tension and pent-up desire. She suspected that if he touched her between her legs she’d climax.
She found a bead of moisture on the knob of his penis. She rubbed it then slipped her hand free so she could taste him, sour and thick against her tongue. After licking her finger, she found his erection again, smoothing her own moisture down the length of him and back up again.
The bike began to slow.
Leah looked around, wondering if they were stopping at a crossroads. But there were no other roads to be seen, no one around at all.
The muscles of J.T.’s legs worked as he brought the bike to a full stop then planted his boots on the ground. Within moments he had shut off the bike, removed his glasses, then got off, not stopping until she was sitting sidesaddle and he was kissing her.
“You…drive me…crazy,” he whispered harshly, his hands moving faster than she could keep up with as he slid them inside the flaps of the borrowed jacket, pushed her sweater up, then undid the front snap of her bra, freeing her breasts. The cool air hit her bare flesh and she gasped when she felt his hot mouth cover the right tip.
Liquid heat, sure and swift, rushed to pool between her thighs as she curved her legs around his waist and sought purchase against the wide bike seat. He laved and sucked her breasts until she couldn’t seem to catch her breath, then he reached around to hold her up so he could rid her of her slacks, leaving her lacy white thong in place.
Leah watched J.T. watching her. She could barely make out the planes of his face in the dark but could feel his gaze blaze a trail from her face to her covered flesh. Balancing herself on one arm, she pulled his zipper the rest of the way down. His erec
tion instantly sprang free, filling her palm as she wrapped her fingers around the heated length. So long…so hard…so thick.
She heard the tearing of a foil packet then moved her hand as he sheathed himself in a condom and rested the pulsing knob against her slick entrance.
It had been so long since she’d had intercourse she knew a moment of pause. More specifically, it had been sixteen months since a man had touched her the way J.T. was touching her now. And it didn’t escape her attention that J.T. had been that man.
J.T. cupped her breast then slid his hand down her quivering belly until his thumb pressed on the swollen button, chasing all thought from her mind. His hips bucked forward and he entered her in one, long, breath-stealing stroke.
Leah couldn’t seem to draw air into her lungs as J.T. filled her to capacity and beyond. He grasped her hips, pulling her closer to the edge of the seat, forcing her to scramble for balance. Then he slid completely out, the tip of his arousal resting against her clit, then slid back down through her slick, engorged folds to fill her again.
Leah stretched her head back, offering her face to the stars, a moan gathering in the back of her throat. J.T. exited and entered her again, the skin of his legs hot and rough against her inner thighs. She tightened her calves, finding and matching his rhythm.
So good…so right.
Hot, hot chaos gathered tighter and tighter in her belly, making her breasts tingle, her breathing grow more rapid, her womb tremble. She heard J.T. make a sound that resembled a low growl, not that dissimilar from the sound of the Harley. His fingers dug into her bottom as he pressed her even closer to him, rubbing his pubis against hers, his erection buried deep within her, hitting her G-spot dead on.
Leah stiffened at the same time J.T. did, unable to breathe, unable to move, merely able to exist as muscles contracted, heat swirled and bathed and quaked through her body, trapping his hard flesh in her softer, wetter recess.
When their climaxes abated, J.T. buried his face against her neck, holding her close while Leah felt a sob gathering at the back of her throat. He tensed slightly, as if sensing her emotional state. He pulled on his jeans, helped her put on her slacks and fix her bra and sweater, then picked her up from the bike and held her tightly against his chest.
Leah clung to him like he was a rocky island in an ever-moving sea of madness. Somewhere in the back of her mind she was afraid she was holding too tightly, but she couldn’t help herself. Having just made love to him, baring her soul and her body to the night air, she could no longer hold in what had for so long needed to come out. She tried to turn away from his gaze, away from where he might see the tears streaking her cheeks, but instead she pressed her face against his neck, loving the smell of him, the texture of his skin against hers.
She wasn’t sure what time it was, but knew she should have been home long ago. Dan would be dropping Sami off soon, if he hadn’t already. And her ex-husband might be waiting there for her, wanting to share a cup of coffee and talk about what had happened at the counselor’s. Discuss the details of his moving back into the house and of their eventual remarriage.
“Leah?” J.T.’s breath stirred the hair next to her ear. “Are you all right?”
She shook her head slightly, refusing to budge from where she was just then. Needing to stay there for as long as she possibly could. “No. I’m not. Nothing will ever be all right again.”
AN HOUR LATER JEALOUSY SURE and swift knifed through J.T. as he sat a block up watching Leah see her ex-husband to the door of her house. His fingers tightened against the handgrips as Dan Burger leaned in and kissed Leah’s cheek. Leah had her arms crossed in front of her as if to ward off the cold and she turned to look up and down the street, perhaps sensing J.T.’s presence in the shadows.
J.T. knew he should have gone. Should have left as soon as he let her off on the corner a few blocks up. But he hadn’t been able to. So he’d found a spot under an old elm tree and stared at Dan Burger’s Lincoln Navigator in Leah’s driveway until the man finally climbed into the car and backed out.
He watched as Dan passed a few feet to his right, meeting the other man’s gaze through the windshield. Then he started his bike and headed in the opposite direction.
He fought to keep his speed at a lawful speed. He knew it was dangerous, his sticking around to see Leah with her ex-husband. He’d gone down this very route before. Even before his affair with Leah a year and a half ago. The first time he’d become involved with a married woman. It was part of the reason he was on the run now, a fugitive from the law. It was the reason he’d left Leah the last time. And it was the reason why he should leave again if he knew what was good for either of them.
He knew it was only a matter of time before his past caught up with him. But he’d always believed it would come by way of a couple of police officers and handcuffs. He’d never once thought he’d live to see history repeat itself.
And no matter the time he and Leah had spent as teenagers during that long-ago summer, that’s exactly what was happening. History was repeating itself. He was in love with a woman that wasn’t his. She was in love with him.
Only the last time it had happened to him, the woman had ended up dead.
And he had ended up being accused of her murder.
9
“DO YOU WANT ME TO TAKE YOU to pick up your car?” Dan asked the following day.
Leah had just entered the house after her morning class and was making her way into the kitchen when her ex-husband called. “No. That’s not necessary, Dan. The dealership sent me over a loaner this morning. Thanks just the same.”
She stared at the now empty kitchen table near the sliding balcony doors. She’d expected recriminations when she’d returned home last night to find Dan and Sami waiting for her while sharing cookies and milk. Instead she’d been welcomed with open arms and they’d made all the right sounds when she’d shared her misfortune. Dan had even gone as far as to ask why she hadn’t called him. He could have come pick her up.
She’d told them that the tow truck driver had dropped her off.
Now she said to him on the phone, “You’re being awfully attentive today.”
“Yes, I guess I am. I don’t know. Something Dr. McKenna said yesterday struck home with me.”
Dr. McKenna and the session where the theme had been Dan’s giving more attention to his career than his marriage.
“That and I…well, I want to come home, Leah. Just say the word and I’ll be at the door in ten minutes.”
She briefly closed her eyes, not knowing what to say. “Dr. McKenna said it would be best if we discussed that next week.”
“I think we need to discuss it now. You and me, face-to-face.”
A shudder ran down Leah’s back. How was it that she’d forgotten how insistent Dan could be?
“I’d rather we waited,” she found herself whispering.
No response.
She cleared her throat and forced cheer into her voice. “How’d everything go in court today?”
A pause then. “Fine. Just fine.”
“Good. I’m glad to hear it.” She hefted her school bag off her shoulder. “Thanks for calling to make sure everything’s all right.”
“I’ll call you…I mean, is it all right if I call you later?”
She swallowed hard. “Sure. Sure it is.” Because they really did need to talk. Not about his moving in. But about possibly putting those plans on the back burner indefinitely.
She disconnected the cordless then neatly dropped it into its cradle. If only everything else about her life were so simple and easy.
But at least she was now getting some sleep.
She placed her class materials on the counter then put on the teapot to boil. She’d felt strangely at peace last night after she’d showered and climbed into bed. Despite that her car had broken down. Despite that she’d come home to find her ex-husband and daughter acting like she’d merely gone out for a quart of milk. And despite that she’d had sex w
ith J.T. She supposed her calm state might have something to do with her no longer fighting her attraction to a man who had stolen her heart a long, long time ago. Or, a small voice in her head prodded, it might be the sexual act itself, the activity and the release of pent-up frustration allowing her to get the rest she sought.
If anything, she faced even larger problems now that she’d accepted that she wanted J.T. and that she was going to have him for however long he was in town. The largest being her reconciliation plans.
She felt tension begin to build again in the crook of her neck and stretched it as she gathered a cup and a tin can of tea bags. She fingered through the options then chose a soothing chamomile. After opening the packet, she put the bag into the cup then went about cleaning up Sami’s breakfast dishes.
Her gaze caught on the kitchen clock. Three hours before her daughter returned home from school…
She wiped the counter, telling herself she had bills to pay, course work to finish, a shopping list to make, a living room to sweep.
The next thing she knew she was switching off the teapot, snatching up her purse and heading out the door.
J.T. KNEW THE MINUTE LEAH had pulled up despite that she was driving a different car, that the miter saw was droning away and that he had his back turned toward the driveway. He could tell because of the way his body vibrated like some sort of divining rod whenever she was near.
He shut off the saw and glanced at his watch. Just before twelve thirty. She would have just knocked off class at the university, stopped by the house, then made her way straight out here.
He lifted his goggles so they rested above his brows then turned to watch her get out of the car. She had on a pair of tan slacks today matched with a white blouse. He wondered if she had any red in her closet. Something, anything with any color.
He also wondered if she had anything on her mind other than sex. And despite his own clamoring want of her, it bothered him to think she might be there just for sex.
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