RickWe drove for another fifteen minutes or so before pulling into the parking lot of a fast food burger joint. The parking lot was empty except for a few cars that belonged to the staff and the one man inside the restaurant sipping a coffee and reading a book. We cruised through the drive thru, and I ordered our meals. Then I pulled into a parking space that faced the road, and we took off our seatbelts.Harley opened the bag and started handing me my items, as well as a straw for my drink and a handful of napkins. Then she flattened the bag into a placemat and put it over my console to use as a little makeshift table. She squirted some ketchup on the corner, dipped a piping-hot onion ring into it, and took a massive bite.She fanned her mouth as she chewed.“Careful,” I said, wincing on her behalf. I held out her drink to her.She snatched it out of my hands and drank greedily. “Places like this never have hot food. It’s almost unheard of. What’s the deal?”“The stars are aligned,
HarleyRick was on the ground and out of my range of vision within a matter of seconds. One minute, his lips were pressed to mine, and my knees were aching, and my stomach was swirling with butterflies. Then his door was being torn open, and he was being dragged out of the Jeep.It took about fifteen seconds for me to process what was happening.Three men stood at three points around the vehicle, dressed from head to toe in all black clothes. One had Rick down on the ground by his door, the other was standing in front of the hood, and the third was hanging around by the back tire of the driver’s side.None of them seemed too concerned about me. In their eyes, I was just some girl who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.Dumb bastards.“Rick!” I yelled again as I spun around and scrambled to get out of the car.I heard him grunt in pain.“Oh, hell no,” I growled as rage bubbled up inside me.As soon as I had my passenger door open, the guy at the hood of the Jeep set his sights on
RickI tried not to grimace when Harley drove over the dip in the curb and into my driveway. She parked the Jeep and looked over at me as she took her seatbelt off. “Home sweet home.”I nodded, took off my seatbelt, and opened my door. I slid out of the Jeep and closed the door behind me. Harley hurried around the hood and came to see if I needed help.“I’m all right,” I told heShe didn’t look like she believed me. She pursed her lips in a fine line and looked me up and down. “I think you’re full of shit.”I laughed and immediately stopped when it hurt my ribs. “Yeah. Maybe.”Harley marched up my driveway to my front door, which she opened with a twist of her wrist. She held it for me to half-stumble through. I tried to walk straight, but the pain in my side kept me hunched over while she closed and locked the door behind us.She let out a sigh and walked around me as I made my way down the hall toward the living room. “Do you have a first-aid kit or something?”“Yeah, under the bath
RickHarley looked down, and her hair fell in front of her face.I propped myself up, ignoring the tight burn in my side, and tucked her hair behind her ear. Her blue eyes swept up to meet mine. “You were reckless tonight.”She shrugged. “I’m not one of those girls who will let you handle things on your own, Rick. You know that about me.”“I know, but now that we’ve—I don’t know. Now that things have changed, I don’t like it. I don’t want you to get hurt.”“You don’t have to like it, but it isn’t going to change. Fuck those guys. They deserved what they got.”“Maybe, but—”Harley put a finger over my mouth. “No. No but. I’m telling you how it is, Rick Thomas. And you’d better get used to it.”I arched an eyebrow.“Too much?” she asked, a hesitant grimace on her face.I chuckled and shook my head. “No. You could never be too much. Truth be told, I don’t think I’ve ever been as attracted to you as I am right now.”“Keep it in your pants, buddy.”“I don’t want to.”She threw her head bac
HarleyNobody had ever looked at me the way Rick was looking at me right now.His gaze was hot, dark, and deep, but there was a soft fondness to the way his eyes rolled over me, starting at my eyes and working their way across my cheeks, over my nose, and to my lips, where they lingered for some time. I was more than a little aware of how sharp my breathing had become.Somehow, he made me burn with need without even touching me, with just a look.His eyes left my lips and made their way down my neck and over my chest. I lifted my arms over my head when he reached out to take off my top. It fell to the floor between our feet, and he raked his eyes over my breasts, which were pushed up to my chin in a ruby-red push-up bra. He cupped them in his strong hands and massaged them, pushing my senses into overdrive.He smelled like blood, pine, and sandalwood. His knuckles were bruised but not split, and I held him to me when he bowed his head to trace his lips across my cleavage. I needed him
HarleyI flinched with every tap, and my knees nearly buckled. Rick pulled away, and I tilted my head back, watching him as he teased and tortured me.I licked my lips. “I want you to start slow.”“Mm hmm.”“And deep.”“And?” he asked.I rolled my hips, dragging my clit over his fingers. “And then I want you to stroke my clit until I come. Then, when I’m dripping and swollen, I want you to fuck me. I want you to fuck me as hard as you can until you come, too.” I reached up to trace his jaw with shaking fingertips. “Do you think you can handle that?”He eased his finger inside me. “Start slow,” he said, recalling my instructions with ease. His lips were parted, and his eyes bored into me as he worked his finger in and out of me in a slow, steady, tantalizing rhythm. “And deep.”“Yes,” I breathed as he pushed in deeper, stretching me and reaching up toward my G-spot. I moaned as he gave me another thick digit. “Just like that.”He slid his fingers in and out, and with every stroke, he r
RickI had no sense of time when I woke up on Sunday morning. It was day, but the light streaming through the partially open curtains was gray and dull, promising a gloomy day. Rain pattered against the window, and I knew that was what had woken me. With every passing minute that I lay on my back with my eyes closed, it rained harder.It was a soothing thing to wake up to.I’d slept well. Better than I expected, given the condition of my body.I lifted a hand to press gingerly at my ribs on my right side. There was pain, sure, but it wasn’t the intense, burning, sharp pain that it had been yesterday.I opened my eyes and lifted my head to inspect the bruise. It was dark purple with yellowing around the edges. Just a normal bruise.My head was aching horribly, but that was to be expected after the couple punches I’d taken. My lip didn’t feel swollen anymore. Overall, I felt better than I thought I would.I owed that to Harley.She’d been a fucking rock star last night, both in dealing
RickI shrugged one shoulder. It hurt less than using both. “I’m not sure. I’m not going to let them stop me from racing, if that’s what you mean. This is my home. My city. I’ll be damned if I let Torq roll in here and treat this place like it’s his damn playground.”“And if he shows his face at the race on Saturday?”“I’ll be ready for him. And I’ll have backup.”Harley licked her lips after eating another strawberry. I watched her tongue roll across her teeth and disappear back into her mouth. “So, you’re taking my advice? You’re going to talk to Mason and Benji?”“Of course.”“Good.”“I’ll need to make sure they have my back so you don’t have to get involved again. Torq is a bad guy, Harley. I know why you did what you did last night, and I appreciate the hell out of it, but I don’t want you anywhere near this guy. Please tell me you understand and you don’t think I’m being a misogynistic asshole.”Harley frowned. “I don’t think you’re being a misogynistic asshole.”“But?”“But not