by Opal Carew
Hard Ride
Part Two
A Novel in Three Parts
Opal Carew
St. Martin’s Griffin
New York
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Table of Contents
About the Author
Copyright Page
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“No.” Liv stared at him defiantly.
Shock glared at her. “What do you mean ‘No’?”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “I mean I’m not going.”
“The hell you aren’t.” He grabbed her wrist and yanked her with him, then dragged her up the stairs. He pushed her into the bedroom. “Now pack.”
Instead, she went and sat on the bed.
“Liv, I’m not kidding.”
She stared at him speculatively.
“Let’s just talk about this for a minute,” she said in her most reasonable tone.
“We don’t need to talk. I’ve made my decision.”
“Well, that’s the whole problem, isn’t it? You’ve made your decision.”
“You said you’d do whatever I say.”
“In the bedroom,” she clarified. “And we both know that meant during sex, but now you don’t want to have sex with me.”
“That’s not true.”
She pursed her lips. “It is true, at least since you found out I’m not experienced.”
“It’s not your lack of experience that’s the issue.”
“What then?” Anger bubbled inside her. “Because of what happened to me?”
Her heart ached. He was judging her. Because she’d gotten herself into a stupid situation. And that stupid guy had taken advantage of that situation and … Damn it, because of that, she had stayed away from relationships. Had been afraid to let anyone close.
God damn it, she was so broken.
“Liv, why don’t you understand? I don’t want to be the second man who forces you into sex.”
“What?” She stared at him in shock.
“I coerced you to sign a contract. To have sex with me. You needed money and I took advantage of the situation.” He picked up her backpack and set it on the bed. “That was wrong. And even worse now that I know what happened to you.” He stared at her. “I’m no better than that guy.”
“Shock, it’s not the same thing. I know you would never …”
She frowned and shook her head. She wanted to take his hand and tell him how much she’d wanted to be with him all those years ago. How much she’d dreamed of him taking her into his arms and kissing her. Touching her.
But after the incident happened … she’d been afraid. Afraid to be touched. Afraid to trust.
So she’d pushed him away. Subtly at first. She found excuses to slow down the activities they did together. Like running in the park, which they did a few of times a week, became twice a week, then once. And she stopped going with him to see the old movies they showed at the campus center on Tuesdays. They weren’t dates, just two friends spending time together, but she’d always wanted them to be more. Before “the incident.”
Then, when he’d seemed to feel her slipping away, he actually asked her out on a real date. And she flatly refused, telling him she just wanted to stay friends. Over the following month, she’d discontinued all their time together, even studying, until they saw each other only in class.
She hadn’t been able to handle more than that. Not while she longed to be closer to him. If they could have truly been just friends …
But she’d wanted more … and couldn’t handle that.
She realized he’d unzipped her bag and had grabbed a handful of clothes that she’d unpacked into an empty drawer in the dresser before she’d gone down to breakfast and was pushing them into the empty backpack.
“Shock?”
At her hesitant tone, he glanced her way.
“Please stop,” she implored. “I don’t want to go home.” She reached for his callused hand and held it in her own. “What we’ve started here … it’s been good for me. I’m…” —she dropped her gaze, letting it fall to their joined hands— “broken.”
He pushed the backpack aside and sat down beside her, tightening his hand around hers. “No, Liv, that’s not true.”
She gazed at his warm, brown eyes. “It is true. When he did that to me, he broke something inside me.” She dropped her gaze to their hands once more, drawing comfort from the gentle pressure of his fingers. “I didn’t choose not to have sex all these years. I was afraid to have sex.” She looked up again, meeting his somber gaze. “But I’m not afraid with you. What we did yesterday … and this morning was exciting.” She squeezed his hand. “I’m not trying to put a huge weight on your shoulders or anything, but I really think that you can help me.” She raised their joined hands and stroked his against her cheek. “Please, let me stay and finish what we started.”
“Fuck, Liv …”
Suddenly she was pulled into his arms, his mouth covering hers. She melted against him, her mouth opening to him.
Need washed through her and all she could think about was being naked in his arms, then opening to him as his big, heavy cock glided inside her. Filling her. Bringing her to heights even greater, and more fulfilling, than last night. If that was even possible.
“Liv, are you sure?”
She took his hand and slid it over her breast, then pressed his fingers closed around it.
“So sure.”
He moaned and deepened the kiss.
Her heart beat wildly as he pulled her farther onto the bed, then leaned in and claimed her lips again, pressing her onto her back. She could hear his heart pounding in his chest, too. And a roaring in her ears.
She pressed his hand against her breast again, but the roar grew louder, then became thunderous.
“Oh, fuck.” Shock slipped away from her and peered out the window.
“What is it?” she asked, just wanting him to come back.
“It’s Steele and the others. They just arrived.”
* * *
As Liv followed Shock downstairs, she tossed her hair over her shoulder nervously. Her cheeks were flushed and she was sure that the newcomers would know exactly what she and Shock had been doing.
Of course they’d know. That was why Shock had brought her here a day early, to give them some time alone together. Shock hadn’t said as much, but it wasn’t hard to figure out.
What had he told them about her? Did they know Shock had loaned her money? Did they know she was here to fulfill a contract?
The front door opened and she heard loud male voices and the sound of heavy biker boots on the ceramic tile floor of the entrance.
“Hey, Steele. Good ride up?” Shock asked as he and Liv stepped off the stairway and into the large foyer with Liv right behind him. Five large tattooed men in jeans, and two women, dressed similarly to Liv, standing in the entrance.
A tall man with dark wavy hair and exceptional good looks who Liv hadn’t met yet nodded. “Always.” His blue eyes locked on Liv, sending her heart stuttering. This was the leader of Shock’s group of
biker friends. “This is Olivia, I take it.”
“Everyone calls her Liv.”
Liv held out her hand and Steele shook it. The feel of his big, powerful hand around hers flustered her. When he released it, she drew it back and sent a quick glance to Shock for reassurance.
“Liv, you already met Wild Card, Magic, and Dom.”
She nodded to them and Wild Card smiled. The other two nodded.
“And this is Rip,” Shock said, gesturing to the fifth man.
Rip’s hair was dark and wavy and his eyes a deep midnight blue. Dense, coarse whiskers shadowed his face, except where a two-inch scar slashed across his cheek, but his warm smile softened his dangerous good looks.
He took her hand and shook it. “Nice to meet you, Liv.”
“And this is Raven and Tempest,” Shock said as the two women stepped toward her.
Both women had long dark hair, but Raven’s was as black as a raven’s wing, which is undoubtedly how she’d gotten her nickname. Tempest was a little taller, with heart-shaped lips. Both were stunning.
“I love your jeans,” Raven said. “I’d love to get a pair like that.”
Rip slid his arm around her waist and drew her tight to his side. “And I would love you to wear a pair like that.” He nuzzled her neck and she laughed.
Tempest held out her hand. “Nice to meet you.”
Liv shook her hand and relaxed a little. She didn’t know how to read the men’s attitudes, but the women made her feel that she’d been accepted.
“Nice place.” Dom glanced around the foyer, which opened onto a large living room with dark honey-colored hardwood floors. “Bedrooms upstairs?”
“Yeah, there are five.” Shock stepped aside as the newcomers headed upstairs with their bags.
As the others were walking up the stairs, Shock took her hand and led her down the hall. “They’ll probably be hungry, so I’ll make some sandwiches. You can sit out on the deck if you’d like. Or go for a swim.”
“No, I’ll help.”
In the kitchen, he pulled out a couple loaves of bread and cold cuts and veggies from the fridge, and they began putting together a plate of sandwiches.
“There aren’t enough bedrooms for everyone. Will some of them be sleeping on the couch?”
“There are enough. Raven’s with Rip, and Tempest’s with Steele.”
“That leaves one short.”
He placed some slices of ham on the bread she’d buttered. “Dom and Magic will bunk in together.”
“Oh.” She cut a tomato into thin slices and arranged them on some of the sandwiches.
Fifteen minutes later the others started trailing down the stairs. Shock placed the sandwiches on the table with plates and then grabbed beers for everyone.
“The backyard looks pretty nice,” Magic said. “I saw a pool out there.”
“And a hot tub,” Tempest said with a smile. “I’m going for a swim after lunch.”
“There’s a lake just down the way, too,” Shock said.
“My kind of place.” Steele smiled.
As they finished their sandwiches, they cleared their dishes and Shock put them in the dishwasher.
“Since you have this all handled,” Raven said, “I’m going for a swim.”
“Me, too.” Tempest followed her to the stairs.
“Why don’t you go put your swimsuit on,” Shock suggested. “I’m basically done here.”
“Okay.” She glanced up at him. “Are you going, too?”
The thought of getting into the skimpy bikini Shock had the personal shopper buy for her and wearing it in front of all these hulking men made her a little nervous. She knew she’d be safe with Shock, but she still wasn’t comfortable with being on display.
He glanced at her and seemed to read her nervousness. “Yeah, sure. I’ll come up now.”
Magic and Wild Card, who were still sitting at the table finishing their beers, grinned and glanced at each other as Shock took her hand. They were obviously assuming … but she shouldn’t care. They could assume whatever they wanted. She would do her best not to let it throw her.
She trotted up the stairs with Shock behind her. Once in the room with the door closed behind her, she walked to the dresser and pulled out the black and white bikini. She tossed it on the bed and pulled off her T-shirt without even thinking. She reached behind her back to unfasten her bra, then remembered that Shock was standing only a few feet away.
She glanced around. He was staring at her, mesmerized.
Sure, he’d seen her totally naked, but that didn’t mean she was comfortable just casually changing in front of him. She grabbed the bathing suit and headed to the en suite bathroom, then closed the door behind her. Once she had changed, she grabbed a brush from the vanity counter and brushed her long hair. She opened a small drawer and found some covered elastics, so she pulled her hair into a ponytail and braided it.
When she returned to the bedroom, Shock stood in royal-blue swim trunks. He whistled, his hot gaze gliding the length of her mostly naked body.
“Very nice.”
“I take it you like your own taste in bathing suits.”
He smiled and stepped toward her. His hands glided down her naked sides and his lips brushed her shoulder. “It’s more that I like my taste in women.” His arm hooked around her waist and he drew her near. As he kissed her skin lightly, shivers danced across her flesh.
“I think we should go downstairs.”
Shock nuzzled the base of her neck, making her knees go weak. “I’m sure they won’t miss us for a few minutes.”
His hand cupped her breast, lifting it slightly, then his thumb found her tightening nipple. When he brushed over it, she had to stop herself from gasping.
“Please, Shock. No.” When she glanced up at him, he frowned. “I know I said I’d obey you—”
He shook his head. “I just want to know. Have you changed your mind again?” His hand slid away. “I can take you home right now if you like.”
“No, I don’t want to go.”
God, he must think she’d decided not to have sex with him after all.
“Nothing’s changed except timing.” She drew his hand back to her and tucked it under her breast. “I don’t want our first time to be a few stolen moments.”
“So you want your first real time to be special. Maybe candlelight and roses?”
She gazed into his warm brown eyes. “No.” She stroked his whisker-roughened cheek. “I just want you, and enough privacy and time that we don’t feel rushed.”
She rose on her tiptoes and brushed her lips against his. He drew her tight to his body and deepened the kiss. She felt a growing bulge in his trunks pressing against her.
“I’m sure that can be arranged.” He nuzzled her ear.
“Well, from the feel of things, you might not be going downstairs right away.” She was his sexual partner, which meant she had responsibilities. He glided her hand down his stomach, then over his bulge. “Do you want me to do something about this?”
But he grabbed her hand and drew it away. “Look, baby. I understand if you want to wait, and yes, I’m hard being this close to you, especially in that fine little scrap of cloth you’re wearing, but you don’t have to suck me off because of it. Okay?”
She bit her lip. “But—”
“No buts. Let’s go downstairs.”
She glanced at his erection, clearly visible in his trunks. How could he just walk out there like that? But once they were in the hall he opened a closet and pulled out a couple of large beach towels and handed one to her, then draped the other over his arm, covering his hard-on.
She smiled, then followed him down the stairs and into the kitchen. Tempest stood at the counter, tall and sexy in a hot-pink bikini.
“Hey, you two. Want to help me?” Tempest asked. “I made a pitcher of margaritas. I could use help carrying out the glasses.”
The three of them walked outside onto the patio with the glasses and a frosty pitcher
and set them on the big round teak table. Soon they were all relaxing by the pool enjoying the afternoon sun.
The backyard was huge, with beautiful landscaping that was definitely well maintained. There were lots of plants and brightly colored flowers, different sitting areas, a large in-ground pool, and a lake with a small beach about a hundred yards from the deck. A hot tub was tucked in a corner, kept secluded from the lake by flowering bushes.
Shock took a sip of the margarita Tempest poured for him, then walked to the pool, dropped the towel and dove into the water.
“So you’ve known Shock since college?” Tempest asked as she sat down across from Liv.
“Yes, we were study partners and friends.”
“And now you’re more,” Raven said with a smile as she moved from one of the lounge chairs near the table to pour herself a drink.
Liv wondered how much they knew about Liv and Shock’s current situation. Did they know that he had a contract for her to be his sexual slave? Her cheeks flushed. Or did they just think she and Shock had started seeing each other? But would she really start riding with them—for a whole month—if they’d only just reconnected, and after being just friends?
No matter what they knew, they must wonder at how fast things had moved between her and Shock.
She wanted to explain that things hadn’t worked out in college, but that they’d always been attracted to each other and this was their opportunity. She felt the need to justify why she had jumped into bed with him. But there was no real way to explain it, so better to leave everything unsaid. Anyway, whatever she said probably wouldn’t match what Shock would say. He might want to protect her feelings by not making it seem as if she’d just spread her legs because he loaned her money, and that all he really wanted was a brief physical relationship with her—a month, to be precise.
Who was she kidding? He had probably told his buddies everything.
“Liv, are you okay?” Tempest asked, concern in her blue eyes.
“Oh, yeah, sure.”
“You seemed to zone out there for a moment.”
“Sorry, it’s just a bit overwhelming meeting all of you.” She glanced toward the big tattooed bikers hanging around the side of the pool, talking. “And the men are, well, a bit intimidating.”