by K E Osborn
“But I wanna learn to ride Miss Willow and naughty words are fuckin’ fun.”
“Jackson, stop!”
Steel chuckles not helping my situation at all. “Hey kid, just ‘cause I say naughty words…” Steel says the words with a slight chuckle, “…doesn’t mean you’re allowed to. Okay? They’re for adults only.”
“What’s an adult?”
Steel furrows his brows and exhales. “Big people, grown-ups. Big scary men like me.”
Jackson shakes his head. “You’re not scary. You’re super cool. I wish my dad was like you… he’s a bad man.”
Steel frowns and looks at me as I bite my bottom lip.
“Jackson, sweetheart, go and play with your toys while I talk to the nice man.”
Jackson leans in hugging Steel’s leg and then he turns running off.
“Sorry, you had to hear that,” I say. Steel takes my hand gently and looks in my eyes. His eyes hard and cold as his jaw clenches tight.
“What was he talking about? What’s the deal with his father?”
Wincing, I look over at Jackson, he’s such a gorgeous little boy you’d never know to look at him the type of life he’s lived.
“I don’t know details, only what Jackson says.”
Steel breathes harshly out of his nose. “What does he say?”
“That his dad is a bad man. His mother always comes in heavily covered in makeup, but the blackness around her eye is still evident. The bruises on her arms are visible, though. I wish there were something we could do. I’ve tried to get Nikita to talk to us about her husband, but she clams up and won’t discuss it. But she does say he doesn’t hurt Jackson, so I guess that’s one good thing.”
“Fuckin’ hell!” Steel murmurs under his breath and starts to pace the floor. He looks over to Jackson just as the door opens and Jackson yells excitedly running over to Nikita, who walks in with a slight limp and visible black bruises on her arms and chest.
Shit!
Steel spots her and storms to her. I swallow hard as Tina and Nikita both tense up at the bulk of a man racing toward Nikita like he’s in a rage.
“Steel, ease up,” I call out as he reaches Nikita. She puts her arms up in defence like she thinks he’s going to hit her, but he pulls her to him and wraps his arms around her tightly in an embrace. I raise my eyebrows high in shock. He leans in his mouth against her ear and whispers something. I can’t hear him, but her body relaxes and she falls limp into his arms whispering something back. Tina is staring at Steel and then looks at me like she has no idea what the hell is going on. I step up to Nikita to see she’s crying and thanking Steel. For what I have no idea. She looks down at Jackson and picks him up. He cuddles into her and Steel smiles at him and puts his fist out to bump. He does, and they both chuckle as Nikita smiles and thanks him again then turns and walks out of the centre.
I grab Steel’s elbow and he turns to look at me. His nostrils are flaring and his jaw tight. I think I even see a vein pulsing in his neck. “Are you okay?”
He turns to me, his hands come up either side of my face as he looks into my eyes. The warmth of his rough hands against my skin is sending goosebumps all the way down my body. He leans in and presses his lips to mine roughly and a spark shoots right through my very soul. I melt into his arms and forget where I am as I move in closer and run my hands up to his biceps and grip hold tightly.
“Uh-hmm,” Tina clears her throat and I suddenly remember I’m at work, and there’s still a couple of children present.
I pull back and look at Tina biting my bottom lip. “Sorry Tina,” I say as Steel smirks at me.
“It’s okay I was enjoying the show, but I think you two should leave before I make you take me with you.”
Steel laughs and pulls me to his side and I giggle and nod looking up at him.
“Okay, thanks, Tina. See you tomorrow.”
“Have fun guys.”
Grabbing Steel’s hand, I walk with him to the front door turning back to peek at him. The tension in his face seems to have ebbed now since our kiss. We stride through the door and then the security gate stepping up to his bike.
He stops looking down at my skirt and shakes his head pursing his lips. “What the fuck is this?”
I smirk trying not to laugh at my attempt to be a badass. “I’m being naughty.”
He tries not to laugh and raises an eyebrow at me. “Bein’ naughty?”
Shrugging, I kick out my foot showing him my red heels. “Disobeying one of your rules as punishment for blowing our first date. You were so demanding about me wearing pants and red heels, so I thought I’d be disobedient and wear a skirt, but meet halfway and wear red heels.”
He tilts his head to the side as his eyes gaze up my naked legs, and he shakes his head with a groans. “Jesus woman! It’s never a good idea to disobey a biker. If you want to be with me you’ll have to know what rules to listen to, and what rules to break. Ridin’ on a bike for the first time in a skirt that short is not good. I know you were doin’ it to piss me off and it’s worked, just make sure you keep your legs away from the exhaust, okay? That shit will burn your skin right off, and it’ll be no one’s fault but your own,” he conveys shaking his head. Leering at my legs once more, before handing me a helmet he steps over his bike and sits down.
I bite my bottom lip wondering now if I should get on at all. I really don’t want to burn myself. Being stubborn seems like such a stupid idea now. God, I can be such an idiot sometimes. Strapping on the helmet, I do up the buckle and then get on the bike behind him. He looks back at me and finally smiles.
“Hold on tight, Miss Willow.” He chuckles and I smile wrapping my arms around his toned waist. Feeling my front against his muscular back is only helping with the excitement. And as he starts the engine the vibration resonating through my legs, I can’t help but feel a whole lot delighted about our date tonight.
He kicks back the stand and brings the bike upright. I hold on tighter as I bring my legs out wide purposely avoiding the exhaust pipes. He revs the engine and I inwardly scream out in excitement as he pulls back and we take off into the traffic.
As we pull into a pub the smile on my face is so wide I don’t think anything could wipe it. He pulls the bike up to a stop and sets the kick stand out moving the bike to the side then starts to remove his helmet. Keeping my grip on him, he turns and looks at me chuckling.
“You can let go now, babe.”
I open my eyes wide and release my firm grip while shaking my head slightly as I move off the bike. He pulls off his helmet completely and smirks, as I undo my helmet and remove it then swirl my hair from side to side. An audible growl erupts from his throat and I look at him wondering if I actually heard that, but when I check he’s looking away from me and I shrug placing my helmet on the seat.
“Dinner?” he asks. I smile and nod.
He takes my hand and a spark shoots between our interlaced fingers. Gnawing on my bottom lip, I follow him inside the pub. We sit down and order some food. The conversation is pleasant, but something is playing in the back of my mind and I really need to ask him about it before I blurt it out and make a fool of myself. So I wait for a lull in the conversation to strike.
“So, what did you say to Nikita when you hugged her?” I ask as nonchalantly as possible.
He stiffens taking a sip of his drink. “That’s not for you to worry about, babe.”
I slump my shoulders and huff. “Well, if you want us to have any sort of relationship then we need to be honest with each other—”
“Honestly, you don’t want to know,” he says blasé and stares off in another direction.
I tense up and swallow hard as my tapping foot under the table is moving so fast you would think it’s on steroids. I decide to just ask what I’m thinking—and dreading.
“Do you like her? Like, do you want to date her?”
His glare shoots up at me and he furrows his brows and flares his nostrils, the shade of red his face turns doe
sn’t go unnoticed either. “What? You’re being stupid. And no, definitely not.”
Nodding I wrap my arms around myself wondering why it affects me so much the thought of him liking another woman. My bottom lip is hurting from how harshly I’m chewing on it and he huffs at the stale silence between us.
“I just want to look out for Jackson and Nikita. I’m gonna try and stop her husband from hurtin’ her… that’s all you need to know.”
The hairs on the back of my neck stand up as a shiver runs down my spine. “How?” I ask not really wanting to know the answer if it’s what I think the answer will be.
“Flame, if you don’t stop asking questions, I’m going to leave you here at the pub.”
My chest tightens and I sink into my seat. My foot is now tapping at an even more rapid rate and my heart is beating so fast, I’m not sure it can cope for much longer at this speed. The silence between us is deafening, and my throat starts to go dry. He looks at me slumping his body as he runs his fingers through his hair.
“Shit, I’m sorry, babe. I just don’t want to involve you. It’s best if you don’t know.”
I swallow hard not liking what I’m hearing, but desperately wanting to know the truth. “Are you going to… hurt… Nikita’s husband?”
Steel laughs while shaking his head, then reaches out over the table to take my hand. I let him because I need some comforting right now.
“Shit! No, babe, nothin’ like that. Just a very stern talkin’ to, that’s all. The threat of bikers when we have a little chat with men like that, it’s enough to scare them straight.”
Relief floods me and I sag into the chair and close my eyes tightly taking in a deep calming breath.
“Hey Flame, look at me.” His deep voice calms me even further.
I open my eyes to look at him. “You’re safe with me.” I stare into his eyes and nod. Right now I believe him. “Hey, let’s get out of here. It’s stiflin’. I wanna take you for a ride.” His smile is radiant and relaxes me even further, so I nod and stand up picking up my bag and we make our way out to his bike.
He hands me my helmet and I place it over my head, he leans in doing up the straps for me. I find it a sweet gesture. He then leans over grabbing his helmet. We sit down on the bike and I wrap my arms around his waist. Leaning on his muscular back, I close my eyes as the engine fires up. The roar of it sends the reverberation right through my soul releasing happy endorphins. I love that feeling. Who knew being on the back of a bike could be so uplifting. He pulls back on the throttle and we’re off. The wind blows through my hair, and I open my eyes smiling at the sun setting over the hills in front of us. I’m not sure where we’re headed, but all I know is the view in front of me is amazing and life doesn’t get much better than this.
We ride for a little while up through the foothills, winding up roads and inclines. The setting sun turns to a moonlit night, and hues of purple and blue fill the night sky of twinkling stars into a breathtaking sight. Seeing it all from a bike is incredible, having a bad boy biker in my arms at the same time… euphoric!
He eventually pulls up at a lookout signposted as Windy Point. I smile as I’ve heard about this place. Apparently it’s where all the teenagers come to make out. Giggling to myself as he pulls up, I look out over the view and it’s simply breathtaking. He couldn’t have picked a more awe-inspiring place to come. He pulls off his helmet as I do the same and we place them on the bike. Grabbing my hand he leads me to the edge. There aren’t many people here being a Monday night.
He moves me in front of him and then stands behind me wrapping his arms around my waist from behind. The gentle nighttime breeze caresses my skin making me feel alive. My eyes stare in awe at all the beautiful lights of Adelaide as they run on for miles and miles—the twinkling lights below and the glistening starry sky above.
“This is breathtaking, Steel.” It really is!
“I’ve always wanted to come here, just never had the right person to come with.”
Turning in his grip, I look into his eyes wrapping my arms around his neck. “You’ve never been here before?”
He nods and leans in running his nose along mine tenderly. It makes me smile.
“So, I’m the first person you’ve ever brought here?” I ask trying to seriously wrap my head around this.
He chuckles and nods. “You popped my cherry.”
I roll my eyes and scoff. “You’re so crude.” I can’t help but smile.
He grins. “Sorry, I wanted my first time here to be with someone special. You’re that someone special, Flame. There, is that clit shit enough for you?”
I scoff and shake my head slightly. “It was so nice, and then you went off track with the last comment. But I’ll still give you points for effort.”
He raises his eyebrows and grins. “Oh yeah, what’s my prize?”
Licking my lips, I move in so our bodies are touching in every way. “Me,” I reply and then lightly press my lips to his.
He groans softly which only spurs me on further by opening my mouth and letting his tongue in. They dance together wildly. Kissing him is the sweetest treat of all time. I could kiss him for a lifetime and it still wouldn’t be long enough. We make out until we’re panting breathlessly like the teenagers that come up here on weekends. And just when we think we might stop we start all over again. I lose track of time, kissing him is a pleasure that I don’t want to end. I don’t even care how long I’m standing for.
Eventually, my feet do start to hurt in my red heels, and I need to sit down soon. I pull back from him regretfully, as my fingers run through his short hair. “I guess we should go?” I say and he exhales and nods.
“Sure thing, Miss Willow. Your carriage awaits.” He waves his hand through the air gesturing to his bike. Stepping back to the bike hurts more than I let on. I’ve been in these heels all day, and now standing up in them for God only knows how long, it’s a torture only women can understand.
Pulling on my helmet at the same time as Steel, I slide onto the bike behind him and grip on tightly. He starts the engine. I smile at having the same euphoric feeling running through me again that I seem to have every time he starts his bike.
We take off back down the Adelaide hills and toward my house. I’m relaxing so much that I lean into Steel cuddling him. He holds my hand and squeezes, and then puts his hand back on the handlebar and I smile wide at his little gesture. I’m so calm and relaxed that I forget and bring my leg closer to the bike. The scorching of my skin takes a second to register, but once the burning pain sears through my calf, I scream out in piercing agony as I jolt my leg away from the bike making it weave slightly to the side. Hot tears sting my eyes instantly, as I look down to my leg and watch the exhaust burn sear red. I immediately start crying as the burning radiates through me intensely. Steel looks down at my leg sticking out to the side and pulls down on the throttle harder. The bike speeds up and weaves through the traffic pulling over to the left-hand side. I’m breathing fast and hard as he brings the bike to a full stop. He quickly jumps off and bends down taking my leg into his hands, he looks down and winces touching my leg around the wound.
“Jesus Christ, babe. Are you okay? Are you gonna faint?”
I shake my head as I breathe in and out through my mouth rather loudly.
“I’m okay, it just stings like a…” I don’t swear trailing off but instead, grit my teeth as he pulls out his phone and dials.
“Techie, I need the location on the doc, now!”
I continue to try and control my breathing through the pain.
“Okay, we’ll be there in ten. Have him on standby, I got a burn comin’ in.” He hangs up the phone and I look down at him wondering where we’re going.
“I gotta take you to the doc, babe. This is bad.”
I nod and tense up slightly. “Where is the doc?”
He hesitates and runs his hand through his hair. “At the clubhouse.”
I have to admit, even with a raging burn on my leg
I’m intrigued to see what his clubhouse looks like, even though the thought of being around a pack of hairy bikers scares the hell out of me.
“When we get there you gotta stay with me the whole time, you got me?” he demands his gaze harsh.
I nod and take in a deep breath. “I got you.”
He stands up and rubs his face. “You okay to ride to the club?” His eyes drooping and his frown deep. His concern is evident, and for some strange reason it thrills me.
I nod and grab his hand to ease his discomfort. “I’m okay, it’s not as bad as it looks.”
He smiles and exhales. “You’re a tough chick, Flame. Okay, let’s get you to the doc.” He turns and moves in front of me on the bike. Wrapping my arms around his back, I hold on tight.
“Make sure you keep your legs out from the pipes, babe.”
I nod against his back as he starts the bike taking off in a flurry of speed down the road. The wind swoops through my hair at a turbulent rate as it flicks and twists in the breeze. My leg is burning as I hold it out, but I keep my foot on the foot rest. I’m sure passersby think I’m strange. We drive down the highway to the rural outskirts of Virginia, where the land is barren and parched. Driving down a long dirt road with nothing but paddocks either side, I start to wonder if we’re going in the right direction. Suddenly, a spacious building begins to come into view. It’s like an old warehouse and it’s massive! Made from mainly corrugated iron, that’s rusted in most places, the sheer expanse of the place leaves me in awe as I look up at the giant premises.
We pull up to an enormous gate, where a man is sitting at a post set high above the gate looking down on us. He presses something, and the corrugated iron and mesh gate begins to open.
“Got yourself a new Independent, Steel?” The guy at the top of the post calls out. Steel’s chest moves up and down like he’s chuckling, but I can’t hear his laugh over the roar of the engine as he pulls in through the rusted gate to a large concrete compound. The building is to the left, and to the right lined up against the corrugated iron fence is a mass of bikes. I bite my bottom lip, it’s intimidating. The sheer amount of bikes means the same amount of men are obviously here.