by Rylon, Jayne
“Nah. At this point it seems kind of silly.” She grinned, not one bit sorry for what they’d done or how today had turned out. From the lowest point in her life to a record high, she couldn’t have traded up any better.
He nodded and grinned, a hint of the boy he’d been shining through his tough-guy exterior. She squeezed his hand before he led her into the hall.
Where several of the Hot Rods were milling around. Had they heard her cries as Bryce ate her out? How could they have missed them?
Instead of mortification, Kaelyn felt pride in Bryce and his ability to please her.
No other man had managed that feat.
If the way his chest puffed out was any indication, shame didn’t enter the equation for him either. His friends stared as they made their way through the crowd, presumably toward Bryce’s room. Kaelyn couldn’t help but think they eyed her like a pack of dogs would a thick, juicy steak.
So why didn’t that bother her either?
“Hey! Eyes over here, assholes,” Bryce barked at his friends, drawing their notice, if not as quickly as he might have liked. Holden tossed her a wink before he gave their rebel his full attention.
And that was when his eyes grew wide and a decidedly evil chuckle burst from his seriously impressive chest. Cut and trim, he could have been a model. For something sinful as well as sexy. Alcohol, or underwear, or maybe chocolate.
She shook her head. Bryce had put her hormones into overdrive if she was thinking of his friends like that. Especially after the release he’d granted her not a minute ago.
The matching laugh from Alanso had her refocusing. What was so funny?
“You’re fucking blinding me, Rebel.” Holden ribbed Bryce. “What’s with the glitter in your beard? Is that some new fashion statement? Or did you forget to wipe your face after dessert?”
“Asshole.” Bryce reached for Swinger, but the smaller guy had agility on his side. When Kaige shuffled closer, Bryce seemed to regain his composure.
Kaelyn took one hand off the knot of her towel to pat his back. Surprised at the tension coiling his muscles, she stiffened.
“Don’t worry, Kae.” He looked at her, then rolled his eyes. “They’re jealous, that’s all.”
“Damn fucking straight.” Holden crossed his arms, making the ink splashed across his pecs stand out even more. What did these guys have against shirts? “You know I prefer to eat buffet-style. Funny, I thought you did too. Maybe Meep’s right. You’re not the guy we’ve bonded with.”
Could he mean…? No, she had to have misunderstood.
Kaelyn stared at Swinger. So she saw Kaige punch him in the arm. Not hard enough to do any significant damage to his sturdy build, but enough to break up whatever current had arced between him and Bryce for an instant.
She must have imagined it.
Because soon the roughhousing had deteriorated into a wrestling match and the rest of the gang took sides and cheered. A couple even seemed like they were making bets, until Nola busted up the ruckus.
By then, no one was looking at Kaelyn or Bryce.
He took advantage of the distraction to tug her into his room and slam the door.
What had put him in such a foul mood? The Bryce she knew had been even-tempered, silver-tongued and well-mannered. Who was he now?
Who was she after today?
She had a feeling they were both about to discover something new. Maybe who they’d become…together. A girl could dream.
Chapter Five
Bryce handed Kaelyn his Hot Rods T-shirt, a sample Nola had designed as part of the merchandise line they were launching for the shop. The badass car in the center burst through a ring of stars with a cityscape in the background that had each of the mechanics’ names spearing out like the spokes on a wheel, and the slogan Live Free, Ride Hard beneath it. If it hadn’t already been his favorite before tonight, it would have instantly elevated to that status after draping Kae’s svelte curves. The way it hugged her breasts and flared around her hips, leaving her ridiculously long legs exposed, had him shuffling into the closet, pretending to riffle through his wardrobe to hide his raging erection from her too-keen gaze.
After tasting her, it’d taken every scrap of his willpower not to fuck her senseless. And himself as well. But something told him she wasn’t quite ready for that. Her innocent fumbling for his pants had nearly undone him while setting off warning alarms in his brain that simultaneously made him cheer and groan. Despite her protests, she wasn’t like the women he’d brought home from bars, forward and greedy. Something was off, however hot she’d been. He vowed to take things as slow as he could. That wouldn’t mean much for a Hot Rod, born to speed and love every second. Hopefully it would be enough for his princess.
When he turned around, he found Kaelyn staring at his mirror. At first he thought she was eyeing the outrageous proof of his aggression on her reflection. Bite rings, hickeys, whisker burn, you name it. He’d marked her with every tool he had at his disposal. Seeing her like that made it clear, even if it had been subconscious at the time.
And then he realized that wasn’t her focus.
Kaelyn stretched out her hand and touched a battered photograph tucked into the frame of the mirror. It’d been there so long it was one of those things that had become part of the backdrop of his room instead of an element he consciously recalled.
It might also be the reason Kaige had thought Kaelyn looked familiar when Bryce had carried her inside earlier today.
The picture was the only fragment of his history that he’d taken when he left.
“I remember this like it was yesterday.” The mirror reflected her smile. Solemn and full of regrets compared to the wide, brilliant version she’d worn in the selfie they’d taken less than twenty-four hours before he’d fled. “I never saw the picture, since it was on your phone. And you…left…that night—”
She paused as if she couldn’t quite believe that they’d met again in this lifetime. Reunited on Earth, not in Heaven…or Hell. Bryce wasn’t sure yet where he’d spend eternity, though disappointing her certainly made him feel like a sinner.
Fuck, he couldn’t quite grasp the concept either. Never mind that he’d sampled paradise between her legs. Their entire reality had changed—history rewritten. That would take a while to get used to. For them both.
Bryce walked up behind her and wrapped her in his arms, trying to still the fine trembling that overtook her again. He glanced at them in the mirror, loving the image they made together. So different than the innocents that stared from the creased photo below their live reflection.
Yet still the same in a lot of ways.
Her, so beautiful it made his heart hurt.
Him, hiding things—this time it was the details of the life he’d built here—and still not good enough for her.
“It was a good day. One of the best,” Bryce whispered in her ear. “I loved that ride we took in my car. Way out into the countryside. I remember how much you squealed while looking at the horses running free on the ranchland while I navigated the curves in the winding road.”
“Way too fast.” She smiled as she scolded him.
“I never risked you. Believe me, had I been alone I would have taken them at twice that speed.” He nuzzled her neck. “Reckless wasn’t in my vocabulary when it came to you.”
“Maybe if it had been you would have done more than picnic with me on that blanket you’d tucked into the trunk.” She leaned into his caresses. “I enjoyed the food we ate under that huge oak tree while we watched the horses in the valley below, but I might have liked you making out with me on the hood of the Maserati better.”
He groaned. “You’re the only woman I’d consider that with, you know. Now, anyway. Back then you were too damn young. Completely innocent. Look at you.”
They both glanced to the picture. Youthful versions of themselves smiled back. Oblivious to how close they were to the shattering of their lives. Or maybe the beginning of new ones.
Bet
ter for Bryce.
Worse for Kae.
“If I had it to do over again, I’d take you with me,” he confessed.
“If I knew then what I know now, I’d have looked for you. I wouldn’t have quit until I hunted you down.” She accepted some of the blame, which she didn’t deserve, for their separation. Kaelyn blanketed his fingers with her hand and squeezed. “My life was never the same without you. No one understood me like you did. No one…encouraged me to try things or see new places like you had. I quit planning my sweet-sixteen trip after you vanished. I figured if you’d wanted to show me around Europe like you’d sworn, you would call. And if not, I didn’t want to see the place you loved more than—”
She practically deflated in his hold.
He cursed into her hair, wishing he had been there to chaperone the wild adventures they’d fantasized about. But if he had stayed, she never would have been safe. Neither of them would have been.
Those chances had been stolen from him as certainly as he’d been taken from her.
Maybe he could make it up to her. Give her some of the experiences they’d both missed out on. Yeah, like eating her until you both pass out from sheer bliss.
Well, in some ways it was a start.
His thick cock nudged Kaelyn’s pert ass, making her blink her pretty blue eyes at him.
Bryce separated them a bit and reached up to rub the knot in his lower neck, which had him wincing. The damn thing always gave him fits when he was stressed. Of course Kae noticed.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Nothing important.” He rolled his shoulders, trying to dislodge some of the tension invading him at being so near her yet unable to claim her. Yet. “I get this kink sometimes from the hours I spend on the creeper, under cars. The board’s not really big enough for me. My shoulder hangs off the edge, so it gets cramped sometimes. Don’t worry.”
He skirted the truth, leaving out the part about how the lust balled in him was amplifying any strain caused by the undersized device he used for work.
She nudged him toward the bed. “Lie down on your stomach. Let me rub it. I’ve had enough massages at the spa to maybe figure this out.”
No way would he pass up the chance to have her hands on him. Preferably on his cock, but anywhere would do for now. He rambled to keep from freaking her out. Hopefully, she couldn’t tell how desperate he was for her touch.
“We have a friend…” How to explain the Powertools crew, Bryce wondered. “Well, a bunch of friends that are kind of a clan of their own. Like the Hot Rods. But they’re a construction crew.”
She didn’t have to know how alike they were. Not yet.
“Anyway, one of the crew wives—Kayla—is a masseuse. When she gets the spot right it doesn’t hurt for like two weeks after. It’s amazing.” He paused when he realized Kae hadn’t followed him onto the mattress. He glanced over his shoulder to see her standing there with a funny look on her face.
“What?” he asked.
“Are you trying to make me jealous?” She surprised him by jogging the few steps to the bed, then jumping on it. “Telling me about some woman with magic hands? Is she pretty? Does she turn you on when she’s petting you?”
Bryce laughed out loud. “I like you green, lady. There’s nothing for you to get wired up about. Kayla is happily married to my friend Dave. She’s not like the socialite bitches we knew who’d cuckold their husbands for the sport of it.”
And she’s bonded to the rest of her husband’s partners, not to mention their wives. But that was a story for another day, he figured.
Hopefully she wouldn’t hold the omission against him.
“Ah, perfect.” She grinned. “Then maybe sometime she could teach me so you never have to suffer again.”
Both of them grew quiet and still.
“I mean, for as long as I’m around, anyway,” Kaelyn amended quietly.
“Does that mean you’ve forgiven me?” He held his breath while she took her time responding.
“I’m still angry. With my father, yours, you, life in general. But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t glad to be here. Or if I denied the attraction between us.” She took a deep breath. “So, as long as I’m welcome, I’m going to take you up on your offer. And while I’m here, I’d like to explore what’s between us.”
He might have reassured her that he didn’t plan to let her fly away anytime soon if she hadn’t chosen then to put her hands on him and begin rubbing. As she straddled his ass, the damp heat of her—bare since she wore nothing beneath his lucky T-shirt—pressed to his lower back, reminding him of how hot and wet she’d been on his face. His boner tucked uncomfortably beneath him as if it attempted to bore into the mattress. What he wouldn’t have given to flip over, tumble Kae onto the bed and fuck her senseless, like both of them longed for.
Except he was sure she needed some time to adjust even more than she needed to come apart. That didn’t stop his cock from trying to convince him that everyone loved a good orgasm or twenty when they were wound up.
Before Bryce’s libido could talk him into a bad decision, Kaelyn drew his attention again.
This time he realized that in addition to kneading his sore shoulder, which simultaneously hurt like a motherfucker and relaxed beneath her caresses, she was tracing his ink. He should have considered what she might think about his back piece.
“You hated your old life this much?” Her hard swallow was audible in the quiet space.
Tom’s advice came back to him in a rush. Don’t let her think you despised her.
Her hands ran over the stacks of flaming money that paved the way to hell as it snaked across his back. Corruption, greed and gluttony made demons that ripped at the angelic mechanics above in a parody—or maybe his own interpretation—of Michelangelo’s Last Judgment from the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel.
In the center, it was his hand, reaching for Tom’s—the man who’d saved him along with his Hot Rod brothers and sister—in a blending of the Creation of Adam with Bryce’s life. Though he’d stopped thinking of his garagemates as siblings since they’d transitioned their bond into something deeper, something sexual, he’d never stopped acknowledging the gang as his saviors. Without them, he would have been doomed.
He let Kaelyn explore his past and the depiction of his rebirth. She paused when she got to her own likeness, etched on his shoulder in the form of an angel. After scrutinizing the picture he’d given the artist to work from, she couldn’t mistake his intent. Or the proof of his undying admiration for her. Her fingers traced the rays shining from her surreal figure. He hoped she realized that’s how he saw her. Ideal. Otherworldly in her beauty. Then and twice as much now.
Pure perfection.
Clearing his throat he said, “There were some things I could never hate. Kae, you might have come from that world, but you never belonged either. I don’t count you as part of the evil I left behind. I’m so sorry I couldn’t think of some way to bring you with me. To save you too.”
She surprised him when she laid a kiss over the part of the tattoo he thought of as himself. Gentle as a whisper, he might have thought he imagined it if every nerve ending of his body wasn’t tuned to her frequency.
“It’s beautiful, Bryce.” She walked her fingers lower to the Hot Rods logo on the side of his torso, over his ribs. “I always wanted a tattoo. Another thing on the list of stuff I never got around to after you abandoned…”
He grunted. “It’s okay to keep thinking that, Kae. I did.”
She patted the resurrection depicted in his tattoo.
They both deserved a new start. She was gracious enough to grant him one.
“Well, anyway, I guess I let a bunch of my ambitions slip through the cracks. I didn’t go after the things we’d dreamed about. I couldn’t face it on my own.” She sighed. “I wasted a lot of time. If I hadn’t been so…”
“Lost,” he whispered.
“Yeah, I guess. If I hadn’t given up, I might have escaped
on my own before this whole fiasco.” She sounded so bitter, he had to turn over and tug her into his arms. Willingly, she stretched out beside him and cuddled into his chest, with her cheek resting above his heart.
“Kaelyn, I’m sorry to say this, but…” Bryce considered hedging then decided she deserved the truth from him always. She was strong enough to hear it. “If you’d rebelled, they’d have tried to squash you. It was only because you went along with their plans that they left you alone. Of that I’m sure now.”
“What makes you say that?” She lifted up enough to meet his gaze.
“Tom told me he has evidence that my father…” He choked on the confession.
“That he what?” She grew still in his arms, waiting for him to spit it out.
“That my mom tried to divorce him, and he made sure she couldn’t tarnish his reputation. He kicked her out, in the middle of winter. That’s how she got sick. He snuffed her mutiny, Kaelyn, like everything else that refuses to bow to his demands.” Bryce bit his lip, wishing he could have rescued her too. “Your dad is the same way. It’s why they’re such tough opponents. They’re exactly alike underneath the pandering and the lies.”
Kaelyn patted his chest, helping to neutralize some of the acid building within his gut. She knew how to calm him, how to help him vent. She always had. Like the time she stopped him from punching some kid whose name he couldn’t even remember anymore for claiming his mother had committed suicide to get away from him and his dad. Probably not too far from the truth, he was willing to admit these days.
Probably why he’d boiled over at the suggestion.
Kaelyn had sauntered between them and asked him to take her for a ride, coming up with some excuse that hadn’t mattered.
Even then, driving had been his one reprieve.
“I can’t believe you kept my car, Kae.” He didn’t even try to stop himself from running his fingers through the platinum stands of her hair. So soft. So long.