Chapter Eleven
Harley
I woke this morning in the depths of despair, having cried myself to sleep last night. It seemed there was no hope. Pierce had found the woman of his dreams, and even though I felt we’d been here before, this time was different. There was no getting away from it. He was serious. He was talking about forever… with a woman he’d known for years.
It was beyond my worst nightmares.
And yet it wasn’t.
Because the woman of his dreams was me.
It seems too good to be true, but everything I’d dreaded him having with someone else is exactly what we both want with each other.
I’m ‘it’, evidently. I’m everything he’s ever wanted… the woman he wants to spend the rest of his life with, and I can’t stop grinning when I think about that. The rest of his life? He’s said it twice… once yesterday afternoon, and again just now. So I know he must mean it.
It seems so strange to go from utter dejection, believing any hope of being with Pierce had been shattered… to this incredible, blissful high, knowing he’s mine, and I’m his, and there’s nothing in the world that can part us. Because this is what we want… both of us. Forever.
Obviously, if I’d realized he was talking about me when he came into the office yesterday, I’d have run around my desk and flung myself into his arms, rather than telling him to send flowers and apologize. As it is, we still got there. He sent the flowers, and I threw myself at him… and he caught me, just like I know he always will.
I hug him a little tighter, resting my head on his back as he speeds through Hart’s Creek and out the other side.
“You okay?” he asks once we’re on a straight stretch of road.
“I’m fine.”
He lowers his left hand, taking mine, and raises it, placing it over his heart. When he did this the other evening, I thought he was playing games, but it seems I may have misjudged him, and I shift a little closer, breathing him in.
We both know there’s a fairly sharp bend in the road ahead, and he lowers my hand, placing it on his waist before he puts his back on the handlebars, changing down a couple of gears as we lean together. I love this… the sense of working as one, and as we straighten again, I rub my hands up and down over his abdomen.
“That feels good,” he says, moving his left hand and reaching behind, placing it on my leg.
“Hmm…” I clench my thighs, smiling at the slight groan that fills my helmet.
“This is how it should be,” he says.
“It is.”
“It feels different, riding with you as my girlfriend.”
Girlfriend? The word makes me smile and I nod my head, even though he can’t see me. “Yeah, it does. It’s so much better.”
“It is,” he says. “It really is, babe.” And as he speaks, he reaches around behind me and pulls me even closer. “Do you wanna stop for a while?” he asks, surprising me, although when I look to my left, I notice we’re close to one of the places we often go for him to sketch. It’s a quiet spot by the creek, sheltered by some trees, and as much as I’m enjoying myself, the prospect of sitting by the creek with him sounds even better.
“I’d love to.”
He chuckles, slowing the bike, then taking a turn down a track, weaving through potholes in the road until we reach the end, where he stops, switching off the engine. He supports the bike for a moment, waiting for me to climb off, then lowers the kickstand, dismounting, and turning to face me, flipping up his visor. I do the same, then reach up to unfasten my helmet, but he gets there first.
“Let me do that,” he says in my ear, undoing the strap, his eyes never leaving mine, except for that brief second when I pull off my helmet.
I may have braided my hair again this morning, too upset to do anything else, but a few strands have come loose, and Pierce reaches out, pushing them back behind my ears. He’s done that before, but it’s never felt this intimate. He’s never studied my lips, while doing it, or made me think he might kiss me.
He doesn’t, but the thought’s still there as he pulls off his helmet, too, pushing his fingers back through his dark hair. The helmet has flattened it, and he messes it up again, a slight curl falling over his forehead, before he locks both of our helmets on the bike… mine at the back, and his at the front.
“Ready?” he says, and although I’m still longing for that kiss, I nod my head and let him lead me over toward the creek. It’s only a few paces, and once we’re there, he pulls off his jacket, lying it on the ground so we can sit.
“Did you bring your sketchpad?” I ask, shifting just a little closer to him and unzipping my jacket. I let it roll from my shoulders and he takes it, putting it down beside him.
“No,” he says, looking down at me. “I’m happy just to sit here with you… just to look at you.”
“Just to look?” I say, tilting my head slightly.
“Well…” he whispers, leaning in and placing a finger beneath my chin. He raises my head a fraction, tipping it back. “May I?” His meaning is obvious and I nod as he lowers his lips until they meet mine in the most gentle of kisses. After everything Kaiden did, this is exactly what I need, and as Pierce brushes his lips across mine, over and over, asking nothing, expecting less, I wonder if he realized that.
His kiss may be gentle and undemanding, but it’s by no means brief. I don’t know how long he takes over caressing my lips with his, but it’s long enough to make me miss him when he pulls back, slowly opening his eyes and gazing down at me.
“You do really strange things to me,” he says, his finger still beneath my chin, his eyes filling with wonder as they roam over my face.
“I do?”
“Yeah.”
“What kind of strange things?”
He smiles. “There’s the obvious,” he says, raising his eyebrows and shifting his hand to the side of my face, cupping my cheek with a silky caress.
“The obvious?”
“Yeah. I’m a guy. You’re a very beautiful, very alluring woman. What do you think the obvious is?” I’m blushing. I know I am, and he smiles again. “Sorry, but I can’t help it,” he says.
“Okay.” I nod slowly, trying to pretend this is a perfectly normal state of affairs for me. “But is that so strange? I mean, if you don’t understand why that happens…”
He chuckles. “I understand precisely why that happens, and given how beautiful and alluring you are, it’s not so strange at all. Not that we have to do anything about it.”
Don’t we? I can’t help feeling a little disappointed about that, although I do my best to hide it.
“I see,” I whisper. “But if we’ve established that the obvious isn’t as strange as you thought, then what else do I do to you?”
He smiles and I have to smile back. We’ve never talked like this before… never teased and tempted, and although it’s new, I like it. I think he does, too, because he nudges in to me, shifting closer as he lets out a long sigh.
“You make me so damn happy… and lightheaded, and carefree. I’m just so full of emotions right now, I can’t give them all a name. All I know is they start and finish with you.” This is too much, although I’m not about to ask him to stop, and we gaze at each other as everything stills around us and he whispers, “Do you think it could be love?”
“L—Love?” I murmur, unable to believe what I’m hearing.
“Yes.” There’s so much fear in his eyes, I know I have to allay his worries and confirm his thoughts are true, but before I can say a word, he pushes his fingers back slightly, into my hair, and dusts his thumb across my cheek, making me gasp. “Do I make you feel any of those things?” he asks.
“Yes.” I nod my head. “All the time. You have done for years.”
He stills, his thumb beside my lip, his eyes fixed on mine, his brow knitting into a frown. “Years?”
“Yes.”
“How many years?”
“Too many to count.”
“And I didn’t notice?”
“No. You were busy looking for perfection.”
He huffs out a half-laugh. “I apologize from the bottom of my heart for my poor observation skills.”
“You’re forgiven.”
He smiles. “And am I forgiven for asking your advice about all those women who weren’t right for me? That was unkind. If I’d realized…”
I shake my head, and he stops talking. “You weren’t to know.”
“No, but now I do…” He leans in and rests his forehead against mine. “I’m sorry, Harley.”
I nod in acceptance of his apology and he tips my head back again, his lips meeting mine. This kiss is just as gentle as his first, although he groans a little as he pulls away and looks down at me.
“I wasn’t kidding when I said I couldn’t live without you,” he says. “I can’t, and I don’t want to.”
“Neither do I.”
He closes his eyes, just for a second, and when he opens them again, I gasp at the intensity that greets me.
“I’m so in love with you, Harley.”
This is better than any dream… any fantasy… any life I could have wished for, and I kneel up, taking him by surprise as I straddle him and clasp his face in my hands.
“I’m so in love with you, Pierce.”
He reaches behind me, one hand on my neck, the other just above my ass, as he pulls me close, our tongues meeting before our lips, just by a second or two. He’s still gentle as he explores me, his hands wandering up and down my back. I let my fingers skim over his stubble, discovering it’s much softer than I expected, before I slide them up into his hair, messing it up even more, my breasts pressed hard against his chest as he deepens the kiss, tilting his head first one way and then the other.
“Forever isn’t too much for you, then?” he says, pulling back eventually and drawing air into his lungs.
“It’s not enough.”
He chuckles, moving both hands down to my ass, which feels nice. “I was thinking exactly the same thing myself,” he growls, closing the gap between us, his lips crushed to mine. I can feel his arousal pressing hard against me, but I don’t care. It feels long and hard, and so, so good. This is exactly what I want, and I flex my hips, rocking against him, to let him know, as he cradles my ass, pulling me closer and groaning into my mouth. I’ve never felt anything like this before, and although I don’t really know what to do, I’m happy to be guided by him, because I know he loves me… and he won’t hurt me. “Do you wanna take this home?” he asks, coming up for air, although he still plants delicate kisses at the edge of my mouth, then traces a line of them to my ear. “We don’t have to do anything you don’t want.”
That’s fine… except I want everything. I have no idea how to say that, though, so I just nod my head, hoping he’ll work it out when we get there, or maybe before, with any luck.
He pulls away and waits while I stand, and although I don’t mean to, my eyes are naturally drawn to the bulge in the front of his jeans. As he stands up, I can’t stop staring, surprised by how enormous it is. It looks uncomfortable, the fabric straining, but before I can say anything, Pierce coughs, and I jump, my eyes darting to his, surprised by the grin on his lips.
“Sorry,” I murmur, as he reaches out and pulls me close.
“Don’t apologize, babe. I like you looking.”
“Does it hurt?”
He smiles. “It would be a lot more comfortable if I wasn’t wearing jeans… or anything else, for that matter, but that’s kinda my problem.”
I’d like to make it mine, but again, I can’t think how to put that into words, and before I can work it out, he leans in and kisses my forehead, then bends and picks up our jackets, handing me mine. We both put them on, although neither of us does them up, and he takes my hand, leading me back to the bike.
When we get there, he climbs on and I give him a moment to get comfortable, reaching for his shoulder just as he grabs me around the waist and lifts me up, sitting me down on the tank, with my legs astride it, facing him.
“I’m the wrong way around,” I say, smiling up at him.
“Not necessarily.” He shakes his head, his eyes grazing over me as he reaches around behind me and pulls me closer, off of the tank and into the narrow space on the seat in front of him. I’m on his lap, his arousal pressing into me again, and I squirm slightly, enjoying the intimacy as he leans forward and kisses my neck. “I thought you were doing strange things to me before,” he whispers, his breath soft against my skin, making me shudder. “But this…” He lets his lips touch mine, and out of sheer desperation for him, I raise my legs, wrapping them around him. He moans my name into my mouth, the heat in my body so unbearable, I have to pull back. I can’t take anymore, and I gaze into his eyes as I lie down across the tank.
My jacket falls open and Pierce takes a moment, his eyes wandering, his breathing labored as he licks his lips, then brings his hand up, letting it roam down my side, from just beneath my breast, to my hip. I arch my back, struggling to get used to all the things he’s doing, and how they make me feel when he brings his hand back up again, only this time he lets it glide up the center of my body, his fingers trailing between my breasts and up to my neck. I’m beside myself with need, my body shuddering, and although I have no way of telling him that, I think he knows. At least, I hope he does.
“You look so hot,” he says, shaking his head as he pulls me up into his arms, his lips meeting mine. This kiss is so much more… so much harder, his tongue darting in and out of my mouth, building a relentless rhythm that makes me moan and writhe against him in anticipation of what’s to come. I move my hands behind him, inside his jacket, letting them wander up and down his back, feeling his muscles flex to my touch. I can barely breathe, barely think, and I’m about to ask him to stop, just so I can get my bearings, when he does just that, breathing hard himself and staring into my eyes. “Did you really not know I was talking about you yesterday, when I was explaining about the woman of my dreams?”
“No… and it hurt so much.” His face falls, and I decide to be honest with him. “I cried myself to sleep last night.”
“Oh, Harley,” he whispers, shaking his head. “I’m so sorry. If I’d known you felt the way you do, I’d have done things differently.”
I bring my hands up between us, resting them on his chest. “I’m not sure I’d have wanted you to.”
“Why? I didn’t wanna hurt you.”
“I know. But I like this.”
“You do?” he says, smiling.
“Yes. It’s romantic.”
He nods. “Yeah, it is. Although looking at those clouds behind you, it won’t be romantic for very long.”
I turn my head, looking over my shoulder at the dark clouds gathering on the horizon, before I return my gaze to him. “I’m sure we can be romantic without the bike, and the creek, and what ought to be a sunset, but looks more like a storm.”
“I’m sure we can,” he says.
“I could make us something to eat, if you like?”
“That sounds perfect.”
He sits me back on the tank, zipping up my jacket, before he kisses me again, keeping it brief this time, and then lifts me up and off of the bike. Then he twists in his seat, unlocking my helmet and handing it to me before getting his own. He checks I’ve got mine on properly before pulling his on, and then I hear his voice… “Are the comms working for you?”
I nod my head, reaching for his shoulder and climbing up behind him. The clouds are darkening and I lower my visor. “Do you think we’ll get home before it rains?” I say.
“We’ll do our best.” He starts the engine and then says, “Hold on tight.” I put my arms around him, smiling when he reaches back and pulls me closer, just like he did before, and then he raises the kickstand, and gets us underway.
He takes it slow to start with, negotiating the track back to the main road, but once we’re on asphalt again, he speeds up. The clouds are behind us, but it doesn’t take long for the sky to darken.
“It feels like night,” I say and he nods his head, concentrating on getting us home, I think.
The headlamp has come on automatically, which tells us everything we need to know, and we’re still a couple of miles outside of Hart’s Creek when I feel the first drop of rain.
“Shit,” Pierce says, before adding, “Sorry.”
“It’s okay.” I know he’s apologizing for swearing, not for the weather. That’s out of his control, after all, and I nestle against him, feeling his left hand rest over both of mine for a few seconds, just before the heavens open. He moves his hand away, and I see him shake his head. “I’m gonna have to slow down.”
He does, easing up as we round a bend in the road. My legs are already soaked, as are his, but there’s nothing we can do, and I console myself with thoughts of having to get dry when we reach home, smiling as I contemplate removing wet clothes, and what we might do without them. It’s an enticing thought, and although neither of us enjoys riding in the rain, it might have its compensations.
We’re not far from Hart’s Creek, and we’re both soaked… and even if I don’t know how to tell him what I want, I think one of us needs to make the obvious suggestion.
“Shall we stop at your place, rather than going the extra six miles to mine?” I say.
“I was just gonna ask how you’d feel about that.”
“A lot drier.” He chuckles in my ear, and rounds the next bend, just as I notice a truck out of the corner of my eye. It’s coming from a turning on right, but it’s not stopping. In fact, the driver doesn’t even seem to slow.
“Pierce?” I cry as the truck comes straight out into our path.
“Fuck…” His voice echoes around my helmet. “Hold on, Harley. Just hold on.”
I don’t have time to reply, or even to react, as at that moment, I feel the bike fall away. Pierce has deliberately dropped it to avoid hitting the truck, and it slides from beneath us. I hear myself scream as the asphalt comes up to meet me, but right before it does… at the moment of impact, I feel myself being spun, Pierce’s hand joining mine as he twists me around.
Everything is a whirl of lights and rain, smudging my visor. I don’t know which way is up. I can’t tell the sky from the earth, and I open my mouth to scream again just as I feel Pierce haul me up into his arms, his body beneath mine. We’re spinning together, around and around, along the road, but I can’t feel a thing, because he’s holding me, and all I can hear is, “You’re okay, babe. You’re okay. I’ve got you…”