Wild Rides: 10 Blazing Hot Alpha Bad Boy Biker and MC Romance Box Set

by Dez Burke

  "I'll be out in a couple minutes," she said, tossing her agenda planner on the table inside of the bathroom.

  "Good luck!" said Josh, still grinning as she closed the door. She stepped into the tub, turning on the showerhead. The water came out in a hot stream, and she reveled in the feeling of the dust being washed away from her body. There was a single bar of soap in the bath, and she rubbed herself with it, massaging her tired muscles under the hot water.

  Unbidden, the image of Josh rose into her mind. She shook her head, droplets of water flying around her. Usually her showertime was preoccupied with work, but even with all of the stress and blunders of the day, she found that she couldn't clear the thoughts from her mind. The motorcycle ride, as scary as it was thrilling. Having her arms wrapped around Josh's chest. It had been a long time since she had touched a man...

  Ruby yelped as the water turned ice cold. Her fingers scrabbled to turn off the water, and for a moment she stood in the middle of the tub, unsure of what to do. She jumped again, startled by Josh's voice just outside the bathroom.

  "Gotcha a towel. I'll just leave it by the door." She could hear the smile in his voice, and her eyebrows knit together in the center of her forehead. She should have driven to a hotel.

  Turning the shower on halfway, she splashed the cold water over her body, rinsing off the last of the soap. Goosebumps rose over all of her skin, and her nipples hardened under her fingers as she washed herself clean. It was freezing, and she was tired and ready to go home. Country living, indeed.

  She retrieved the towel and dried herself quickly. She hadn't packed for two days - only what she needed, she had said to Seth - and she rummaged through the small chest of drawers, finally pulling out a flannel shirt that looked like it would come down to her knees. She hoped that Josh wouldn't mind, but that was what country hospitality was all about, wasn't it? Pulling the shirt over her head, she combed her damp hair with her fingers and went out to the main room.

  Josh was bent over the fireplace, and the room was heating up quickly.

  "Sorry, the water heater's a piece of shit. Been meaning to replace it." He threw another log onto the fire and the flames licked over the fresh wood. "Thought you might like to warm up here."

  "Thanks," she said gratefully. The fire was nice after the cold shower, and the flannel felt good against her skin. She looked around. Half of the mess was gone, and there was a mat laid out in front of the fire place. Josh gestured to it.

  "There's the bed, and I was going to sleep here on the floor," Josh said. "But if you'd rather be closer to the fire, you're welcome to it." Josh rubbed the back of his neck and Ruby realized for the first time that he was nervous to have her stay over. The realization came as a surprise, and her heart swelled before she pressed the feelings back.

  "This'll be fine," Ruby said. She plopped down onto the mat and held her hands out to warm them in front of the fire.

  "You, uh, you want something to eat?"

  "Sure," she said.

  "Let me, um, here. I have steak and, well, corn. You like corn?"

  Ruby smiled. "That sounds good. Can I help."

  "No! No, please, let me. There's not a lot of space here by the stove either way."

  He had that right. The tiny stove was only big enough for one person to manage. Ruby went through her presentation materials as Josh cooked dinner. Outside, the sunlight began to wane, and Ruby was grateful that she was inside from the chill.

  Josh served up dinner. He only had one steak knife, so they had to share.

  "This is fantastic," Ruby said, enthusiastically. Her steak was perfectly cooked to medium rare, and the corn was so sweet and fresh that she ate an extra ear without stopping to pause. She ate quickly, but by the time she was finished the sun had gone down entirely. She yawned, exhausted from her travel and from the day's adventures.

  "Are you going to sleep soon, or do you have work to do?"

  "Are those the only two options?" Josh asked. He picked up her plate and took them to the sink to wash.

  Ruby laughed.

  "Yeah, I guess that's all I ever do, work and sleep." She smiled. "And, of course, I love to take long leisurely walks by the side of the highway."

  "Lucky for you I found you when I did," Josh said. "It can get dangerous out in the middle of nowhere."

  "Rabid ears of corn? I think I read about that in the brochure for Omaha."

  Josh chuckled.

  "More like dangerous animals. Predators."

  "I didn't see any."

  "Lucky again. You're just one lucky girl."

  His eyes flickered down to her body and back up in an instant. She was about to say something snide, but then he bit his lip and an ashamed expression came over his face. Something inside of her ached for him, for the sweetness in his gray eyes to stay fixed on hers. Most guys didn't even notice her. Short and fat, at least compared to the rest of her friends. Whenever she went out to bars, guys would look at her without looking at her. But Josh was just the other way around—he was looking at her when he thought she didn't notice. She noticed everything.

  "Well, I was gonna read for a bit before bed," he said. "Hope the lamp doesn't bother you."

  "What are you reading?" Ruby asked. Her eyes wandered over Josh's frame, and this time she let her thoughts roam freely. His body was built for the country, and his eyes shone clear, reflecting the flames of the fire.

  Josh picked up a book from the table, and Ruby noticed for the first time that there were stacks of books piled up underneath the mess. Interesting.

  "It's McCarthy," he said. "Blood Meridian. Really strange story, but I like the way he talks. It's almost like the Bible." The book looked small in his large, muscled hands, and he held it carefully, as though it was a priceless Faberge egg. He opened the book and took out the scrap of torn paper he had been using as a bookmark.

  "Read some to me?" Ruby asked. As the words left her mouth she wanted to reach out and snatch them back out of the air. What on earth was she doing? But Josh simply nodded, came over and sat next to her on the floor in front of the roaring fireplace. She felt a shiver of anticipation as he thumbed through the pages.

  "This is all mostly shooting people and things," Josh said apologetically. "Pretty violent stuff." He flipped back further. Ruby watched as his light eyes danced over the pages.

  "Oh, here's something I liked," he said. He coughed, his finger on the printed words. He hesitated, coughed again. Ruby flexed her fingers in front of the fire and waited. When he spoke, his voice was low but sure.

  "It's a mystery. A man's at odds to know his mind cause his mind is aught he has to know it with. He can know his heart, but he dont want to. Rightly so. Best not to look in there."

  The flames flickered in the hearth and Ruby felt the warmth fill her. Josh's voice was mesmerizing.

  "It aint the heart of a creature that is bound in the way that God has set for it."

  The light of the flames played across Josh's face as he spoke the words. His face was grim, and the shadows turned the contours of his cheeks dark and menacing.

  "You can find meanness in the least of creatures, but when God made man the devil was at his elbow."

  Despite the warmth, Ruby felt a chill run through the backs of her arms.

  "A creature that can do anything. Make a machine. And a machine to make the machine. And evil that can run itself a thousand years, no need to tend it."

  He closed the book and looked up towards Ruby.

  "Mean creatures. That's what you got to be looking out for."

  "Not the most optimistic writer, huh?" Ruby said. She wished she had something more to say. She did, but it didn't have to do with the book or with the words that hung in the air between them. It had to do with his eyes and his mouth and her body aching to reach out to his.

  Josh smiled.

  "Guess not." He put the book down carefully and turned towards Ruby. "I suppose I'll turn in after all, let you get some sleep. Big day tomorrow, right?"
<
br />   "Wait," Ruby said, and all of a sudden her hand was on his shoulder, his muscles taut under the fabric. She swallowed. She was torn between her desires and the nagging voice of practicality that whined in admonishment.

  Josh was waiting for her to speak, but she couldn't say what she wanted to. She plastered on a fake smile and let her hand fall away from his shoulder.

  "Do you have an alarm that I can set?" she asked.

  "I wake up before dawn most days," he said. "Should be fine." He got up and went to his cot.

  "Lights out," he said, and turned off the lamp. The only light in the room came from the flames of the fire licking against the back of the fireplace. Above her, the wood beams of the small cabin looked blood red in the firelight. Ruby settled down and tugged the blanket up to her chin.

  Within a minute she could hear the soft and regular sound of his breathing, a slight snore coming from his cot.

  CHAPTER THREE

  When Ruby woke, the fire had died down to low embers, but she did not feel cold, not really, nor tired, either. Through the window, she could see the full moon rising.

  She pulled the blanket around her shoulders, more for modesty than for the chill, and tiptoed across the room.

  Josh wasn't on his cot. Strange. She hadn't heard him leave. She checked the bathroom, pushing the door open slightly.

  "Josh?"

  Silence greeted her. She poked her head in and looked around. There wasn't much room to hide in the small cabin, and Josh was definitely not there.

  "Josh?"

  She spoke softly, not expecting an answer. The low crackling of the embers in the fire was the only sound in the cabin. Well. He must have gone for a late night walk. Her heart swelled with an idea: maybe she would find him.

  "Now that's the silliest idea you've had yet this trip," she admonished herself. She was here on business, after all. Images flickered into her mind of taking a walk outside in the fields with Josh. He would take her hand and kiss her, and they would fall down together to the ground under the moonlight. Their bodies would crush young seedling corn, him kissing her neck, moaning passionately. Them tumbling over each other, hands going all over each other's bodies...

  "Stop it," Ruby whispered. "You just stop thinking about that."

  But she tightened the blanket around her and opened the front door to go outside.

  "Josh?"

  The planks of the porch creaked slightly under her weight, and she stepped lightly across the porch, the wood rough against her bare feet. Then she was standing on the dirt and looking down to where the edge of the cornfield bordered the cabin. The motorcycle was still parked where Josh had left it, and the Volvo was there too. He must be around here somewhere.

  "Josh?"

  The moon was rising between the rows, and she walked forward, her hand brushing the stiff leaves of the corn. She walked to the edge of the first cornfield, where it met with a barbed wire fence, and more corn beyond. She paused next to the fence.

  Her toes sank slightly into the earth, and the smell all around her was earth and corn and growing. It was a smell that she'd forgotten, living in the city.

  She stopped and closed her eyes. One time in a book, she forgot which book, she'd read that you could hear the corn growing at night if you stopped and listened. Now, she let her hands hang at her sides and she heard a soft rustling. Was that the corn growing? Maybe it was the wind. She opened her eyes but the silken tops of the corn stalks were unmoving in the moonlight. Then it must be the growing of the corn. She closed her eyes again to listen to the crackle and murmur of the plants stretching themselves in growth.

  Then, a growl.

  Ruby spun around, clutching the blanket over her chest as though it would ward off whatever animal had made the noise. She didn't see anything in the corn rows.

  Another growl. This time behind her.

  "Josh?" The name came out as a whisper.

  A wind came sweeping over the field as she looked around her, trying to find where the animal was. The heads of the corn stalks began to sway slightly and rustle against each other. She could feel her heart pounding against her chest and she edged in sideways between the corn rows, crouching down. Maybe whatever it was out there would miss her, go away. She peered out to where the barbed wire fence stretched down the field, and what she saw made her gasp.

  Wolves. At first it was just one, leaping over the fence as easily as if it were only a foot high. The creature jumped across to the earth next to the cornfield, its paws making no sound as it landed. It growled, and Ruby felt chills run down her spine as the growl carried on the wind over to where she was crouched. The sound seemed to come from right next to her, but the wolf must have been fifty feet away.

  Then another wolf leapt over and into the field, and another. Ruby leaned forward, unable to keep her curiosity from getting the better of her. She could see now the glint of their eyes beyond the fence in the cornfield. There must have been a dozen of them. Some of them yipped and began to play with each other, nipping at their heels. Some tumbled to the ground and arched their backs against the earth like puppies scratching their backs.

  Then the first wolf raised its head and howled, and the pack of wolves began to run. Ruby watched as they leapt over each other, heading—thankfully!—in the other direction. She exhaled, realizing for the first time that she had been holding her breath as she watched the wolves. Finally they were gone, no hint of sight or sound remaining.

  Ruby waited only a few seconds more before standing up and racing back to the cabin. She shut the door behind her as she came in and collapsed on the mat in front of the dying fire, catching her breath. She considered calling the police, but no. What would she say? Everything seemed like a dream already, now that she was inside in the warm, safe cabin.

  She meant to wait up for Josh, to make sure he was okay. But tiredness overtook her as she sat there, and she drifted off into dreams of cornfields and wolves and Josh's strong arms around her.

  ***

  Morning came and Ruby woke up to the sun shining in her eyes. She blinked hard, and then she was on her feet.

  "Josh?"

  "Right behind you."

  Ruby started and spun to see Josh standing behind the small stove in the corner. The smell coming from the pan was incredible.

  "Lord, you scared me," she said. "What time is it?" The presentation at AgriCorp.

  "Enough time for breakfast before you have to go," Josh said. "Bacon and eggs okay?"

  "No corn?"

  Josh grinned at her.

  "Eat up," he said.

  She raced through breakfast in a hurry, running through her presentation in her mind. It was only as she was putting on the extra motorcycle helmet that she remembered what had happened last night. Josh revved the motor as he waited for her to snap on the helmet.

  "Where did you go last night?" she asked Josh, swinging one leg over the motorcycle and pulling her skirt down to cover the skin that had been bared. God, it was so dangerous to ride on one of these things with a skirt on. She wished that she'd asked him if they could take the station wagon, but from the looks of it the car hadn't been started in months.

  "Last night?"

  "I woke up and you weren't there," Ruby said.

  "Oh, just went out for a midnight walk," Josh said. "Check on the corn. You ready to go?"

  Before she could ask him about the wolves, the motorcycle was moving under her. She grabbed Josh's chest tightly and ignored his laughter as he revved the motor and sped off down the dirt road toward the highway.

  This time, she felt safer sitting behind him. Still not comfortable—there really wasn't a good way to be comfortable on the back of a bike, she guessed—but at least she wasn't worried about falling off. Turning her head, she saw the cornfields flying by. She rested her chest against Josh's back and imagined what it would be like to be pressed against him naked. The image was more than pleasant, and she let her mind drift off into fantasies. All thoughts of the presentation h
ad evaporated with the wind and the loud howl of the motor underneath her, and her body began to ache, as much from the unsatisfied desires inside of her as from the tension running through her muscles.

  As they rode on, she saw black cylindrical towers rise up over the horizon.

  "That's Agricorps," Josh yelled back to her over the noise of the wind. She gave him a thumbs-up to show that she had heard. Then they went over a bump and she quickly clutched both hands back to his chest. Okay, so maybe she didn't feel so safe, after all. He pulled up into the field complex, next to a gleaming metal silo. A glass office building stood in front with a sign that said Headquarters.

  "That's me," Ruby said. She hopped off of the motorcycle and almost fell over on her heels. Luckily, Josh caught her arm. Before she could even thank him, he was unclasping the helmet from her head and putting it back on the motorcycle. She smoothed down the front of her skirt, checking her blouse for any stains. He handed her the presentation materials from the motorcycle saddlebag.

  "So...are you gonna need a ride back to the airport?" Josh asked, rubbing the back of his neck.

  "Maybe," Ruby said. "I mean, don't worry about me. I'll find a ride with someone. It's okay." With him standing in front of her, waiting, she suddenly wanted to do something else, say something before he left for good.

  "Can I...I mean, thank you for letting me stay with you. And for the ride." Ruby dug through her purse and came up with a few twenty dollar bills. "I don't have much cash, but here—"

  "Hey, no," Josh said, holding up his hands in protest. "No way. I'm not taking your money."

  "Come on. You did so much for me. You cooked me dinner! It's been years since any guy has done that for me!" Ruby laughed, pressing the bills toward him insistently.

  "That's a shame," he said. "But hey, no. I'm not getting paid for entertaining a beautiful woman for a night. You have to let me show you that famous Nebraskan hospitality."