2. Kathrine
CHAPTER 2
KATHRINE
I don't know how I let my friends talk me into coming to Sturgis. Sitting here in this bar, looking at all the bikers, is intimidating. They are so much more outgoing than I am, and would think nothing of it to walk up to the bar and talk to one of them, but the thought of doing it to any of these guys here doesn't appeal to me.
Two guys walk in the door, covered in tattoos from their forehead to their fingertips.
“What about one of them? A night with a bad boy?” My friend Bridget jokes.
“There is not one thing about them that is attractive to me.” I shake my head.
“You're going to have to stop being so picky, or you're going to die a virgin,” my friend Penny says.
“Then so be it. A girl has to have some standards,” I say, taking another swig of my drink.
We just graduated college, and they have it in their heads that I have to lose my virginity here in Sturgis. They are shocked that I graduated from college with it intact.
Going to college was a big deal for me, so I kept my head down and worked my butt off to make sure I kept my scholarship. By the time I looked up, we were graduating, so it really doesn't surprise me as much as it surprises them.
Still, I let them entertain the idea. I enjoy hanging out with them, and even though they might tease me about still having my virginity, I know that they have my back no matter what.
“Look at this group coming in. Holy shit,” Penny says, and her jaw drops.
Five guys walk in. Two of them have their arms around a girl, and the other three look as single as can be. While they all are pretty good-looking, it's the last one who walks in with the scar on his face that does something funny to my insides.
“See one that catches your eye?” Bridget asks.
I know I should respond, but I can't help but stare at the man with the scar as he makes his way to the bar with his buddies.
“Hmm, I think that's a yes.” Penny giggles. “Which one is it?”
“The one with the scar,” I say as I finally tear my gaze away from him.
When I look back at my friends, they're both staring at me with wide eyes.
“This almost became a running joke. We never thought that you would really find someone that you were interested in. But now that you have, you really should go up and talk to him,” Penny says, gently placing her hand on my arm.
“There's no way I can walk up to him with all his friends there. I’d die of embarrassment,” I tell them honestly.
“Well, let's sit here. Maybe you can find a moment that would be authentic to go up to him,” Bridget says, just as one of the couples he came in with walks off across the room.
We sit there, and I finish my drink, which is mostly water at this point. I watch as the second couple walks across the room, too.
“And then there were three,” Bridget says.
“The side next to him at the end of the bar is open. You could always walk up to get another drink and see if it's possible to strike up a conversation,” Penny says, and Bridget agrees.
I know she's right, but I still hesitate. Thankfully, they don't push me as another one of his friends walks away to join another group in the bar.
Something in my gut tells me if I don't take this chance, I will regret it, and it's not just about losing my V-card.
“I'm going to do it,” I say, taking a deep breath. Standing, I grab my empty drink glass. No sooner do I take my first step towards him than his other friend leaves to talk to some other people, so now he’s alone at the bar.
I can't believe my luck.
As I walk up, I get a good look at the patch on the back of his cut.
Mustang Mountain Riders.
When I stand at the bar, the bartender walks over, and I order another drink. That's when he turns to look at me, so I offer a smile and ask the first thing that comes to mind.
“So, where is Mustang Mountain?” I nod towards his back where I saw the patch.
Before answering me, he turns and fully faces me, and that's when I get a clear view of the scar on his face. It looks like an arrow, and I let my eyes trace over it. I shift my weight, trying to ease the tingling at my core at just the sight of it. Knowing that there's quite a story behind it, I wait for him to answer me.
“Western Montana, up by Whitefish and Glacier National Park,” he says in his rough voice. His tone sends a shiver down my spine.
I've never been happier that Penny and Bridget insisted on each of us having our own hotel room on this trip, because I am definitely going to have to relieve some tension once we get back.
“Oh, Glacier has been on my bucket list for years,” I smile, and my eyes go to his scar again, wanting desperately to know the story behind it.
“Your scar looks like an arrow. That's really cool. How did you get it?” I ask before thinking. I swear it must be the alcohol making me this outgoing. Right away, I see a trace of shock on his face before he hides it.
“My time in the military. The story isn't pretty, though,” he says, his gorgeous grey eyes with flicks of silver study me.
I like having his eyes on me, which is something I’ve never experienced before.
“Maybe you can take me for a ride on your bike and tell me.” I try to channel Penny and her flirting, which I've watched her do for years.
“What's your name?” he asks as his body turns towards me. He faces me full on now.
“Katherine, but everyone calls me Kat. What's yours?” Butterflies erupt in my stomach because it seems my flirting is working. At least he's not running scared.
“Well, they call me Arrow, and once your pussy touches my seat, Kitty Kat, it belongs to me,” he says brazenly.
There’s more than a hint of desire in his gravelly voice.
I let out a gasp because I'm shocked my flirting worked, and I'm even more stunned that he wants me. My brain races, and I want nothing more than to hit pause and run over to Penny and Bridget and ask them what I should do, but I can't do that.
While my mind is frantically trying to come up with something that one of them would say at this moment, I suddenly blurt out the one thing comes to mind. “Which one of those is your bike?” I ask with more confidence than I feel as I nod towards the bar door.
Without moving, he looks at me and studies me carefully. It’s as if he's trying to decide if I'm serious. Then, standing, he pays for his unfinished drink, and places his hand on my lower back.
“Do you need to let your friends know you're leaving?” he asks.
When I look over at them, both of them have wide eyes and big smiles on their faces. They give me a thumbs up, and Bridget holds up her phone and points to it.
I know what she means. If I need anything, I’ll call her. Before we got here, just in case something like this happened, we shared our locations.
“I think they're okay with me leaving with you,” I say and give them what I hope is a reassuring smile as Arrow guides me out the door.
The South Dakota heat hits me once outside, making me shade my eyes. Leading me over to his bike, he picks up the helmet and hands it to me.
“It'll be big. I hadn't planned on having anyone else on my bike while I’m here,” he says, placing the helmet over my head. Then he helps me tighten it as best he can.
I’m a little surprised when something possessive pops up in me, knowing that he didn’t plan to have anyone else on his bike. Then I remind myself I have no right to feel that way. He swings his leg over his bike before he turns to me and holds out his hand.
“Last chance to back out,” he says, and I hesitate for a moment before I take his hand.
“Know a good place to watch the sunset around here?” I ask as he helps me get onto his bike.
Unsure of where to put my hands, I rest them gently on his shoulders, but he shakes his head and shrugs my hands off them. Immediately, I think maybe he doesn't want to be touched. I start looking for a place to hold on to the bike, but before I know it, he's got both of my hands in his and he's pulling them to wrap around his waist. The motion puts my chest very close to his hard back.
My hands rest on his T-shirt under his cut, and I can feel the ridges of his abs under the thin shirt.
“Hold on tight, Kitty Kat,” he growls, revving the engine.
We take off with a jolt, which causes me to tighten my arms around him, and I swear I can feel him laughing. He goes north through town, but once we leave the city limits, I have no idea where we are. I feel like I can trust him, which sounds completely crazy since we just met an hour ago, if that. Deciding to enjoy the beautiful scenery all around me, I take deep breaths to keep my nerves calm.
This is my first trip to South Dakota, so I want to take as much in as I can. We make a few turns off the main road, and just as I get nervous, he pulls over at a small parking lot that is big enough to hold maybe three cars. He parks his bike and turns it off. Then he gets off the bike and offers me his hand to help me get off, and I take it. As soon as his feet hit the ground, he's helping remove the helmet.
He sets the helmet on the bike, takes my hand, and without a word, walks down the sidewalk.
“There's a bench over here that'll be perfect to watch the sunset.” He nods, leading me over to the bench while never letting go of my hand.
There's a little play area off to the side, and I realize this must be a park, a small one that maybe only locals know about.
“So, what brings you to South Dakota?” he asks once we sit down on opposite sides of the bench. A silly feeling of not liking the space between us hits me. But I have to remind myself that I just spent however long on his bike pressed up against him, so he probably wants a little space.
“My friends and I just graduated college, and we're on a girls’ trip because I was outvoted, and this is what they wanted to do,” I tell him, leaving out the part about them saying I need to lose my virginity.
“Where did you want to go?” he asks.
“I found this beautiful rental cabin that had views of the Grand Teton Mountains and was close to the national park and everything. I was shot down because of the lack of guy choices that would be around.” I smile, letting him assume that I mean for my friends.
Penny and Bridget loved the cabin, and we thought about it until I got the idea in my head about losing my virginity. That's when things spiraled with our vacation planning.
“What about you? Are you only here for the bike week?” I ask him.
Some unreadable expression crosses his face before he masks it again.
“Yeah, we're here to network, but this isn't my first year.”
Since I get the feeling it's something he doesn't really want to talk about, I simply nod.
“Where are you from?” he asks, shifting on the bench and, I swear, he’s a few inches closer to me.
“I was born and raised out in Virginia, but I came out west to go to school in Denver. That's where I met Bridget and Penny, and also where I think I'm going to stay because I like it out here.” For some reason that I’m not willing to admit, I let him know that I don't plan on heading back east.
Then I have to give myself a mental shake. It's not like we're going to ride off into the sunset as a couple. This is a one-night stand, a weekend of fun at best, and the odds we will ever see each other again are slim to none.
“You like living in the big city?” he asks.
His eyes roam over me like he's trying to decide if I'm about to tell him the truth or not.
“Honestly, not really. I grew up in a small town, but I live just outside Denver, and the place feels small, so it's not too bad,” I say.
He nods his head like he agrees with me.
As we watch the sun go down, we sit and talk. He doesn't even complain when I bring my phone out to take photos of the sunset. This is huge for me because in the one short relationship I had in college, the guy hated when took pictures of nature.
Brian thought photos should have people in them and that taking pictures without people was a waste of everyone's time. When he realized I wasn't going to allow him to be the one to have my virginity, he became a waste of my time. My survival instincts must have kicked in on that one because I found out after we broke up he had been sleeping his way through college.
Turns out he was just with me to “bag a virgin.” That's why I'm not too eager to tell Arrow about my virginity.
As the sun dips below the horizon, Arrow stands and holds his hand out to me once again.
“We should probably head back while there's still a bit of daylight left,” he says.
Agreeing, I take his hand as we stroll back to their parking area. Though it might be my imagination or wishful thinking, I feel like we’re walking much slower on the way back. My mind could be trying to trick me into believing that he's actually enjoying spending time with me, and maybe he is. One thing I do know is that I don't want the evening to end.
As I think about going back, my stomach twists into knots. I’m hoping we might go to his place where I can finally lose my virginity.
He doesn't say a word as he helps me with the helmet and assists me onto the bike. This time, I hold on tight from the start. He looks back over his shoulder and smiles approvingly at me. Damn, is he beautiful when he smiles. Although I don’t have a chance to tell him because he revs his bike and a moment later, we’re back on the road.
The entire way back into town, the only thought that runs through my mind is whether I can actually go through with this. My body one-hundred percent wants to, but I have some reservations. Maybe Bridget is right, and I just need to get out of my head when it comes to sex.
When we pull into the parking lot of the bar we were at earlier, he parks the bike, turns it off, and looks at me.
“Are you going to stay with me, or should I take you back to wherever you're staying?” he asks.
I pull out my phone to check where Penny and Bridget are. “Actually, my friends are just at the bar next door, so this is perfect,” I say, getting off the bike.
Once again, he helps me off the bike and takes my helmet before speaking. “My buddies and I have some plans tomorrow during the day, but will you meet me back here for dinner?” he asks.
Suddenly, all my nerves are gone. “I'd like that,” I tell him with a smile.
Knowing that he's not expecting sex tonight is like having an enormous weight lifted off my shoulders, so I can relax and enjoy the time I have with him.
His eyes study my face, and suddenly I want nothing more than to kiss him. I’m mesmerized by his mouth and the shape of his lips. When he takes a step forward and puts his hands on my hips, I gasp at the sensation. From one little touch, how can it seem like electricity is running from his hands straight to my core?
My eyes land on his lips, and I've never wanted a kiss so badly. I lick my lips just thinking about it, and he lets out a groan. Then he’s bending slightly, and his lips are on mine.
His lips are firm, and the kiss is light. It’s as if he's hesitant about how I might respond. But I let him know without words as I wrap my arms around his neck and pull him in, trying to deepen the kiss. When his hand cups the back of my head so that he can kiss me harder, I gasp. Taking the involuntary prompt, his tongue enters my mouth, searching for mine.
The passion and the intensity of this kiss make me dizzy. It’s a ground-breaking, panty-melting kiss. I've never experienced a kiss like this before in my life, and I never want it to end. His other hand wraps around my waist, pulling me against him. That’s when I can feel his hard erection pressing into my belly. Knowing I'm not the only one turned on makes me daring, so I blatantly press up against him.
After we both take a minute to catch our breath, he pulls back and presses a kiss to my forehead.
“Tomorrow, Kitty Kat. Meet me here at six o’clock for dinner,” he orders.
I nod my head because I don't think I can speak.
“Until then, you don't get on anyone else's bike, do you understand me?” he asks with an engaging threat in his voice.
His tone doesn't scare me, so I just smile. “Is getting on a guy's bike kind of the same thing as the cowboy hat rule?” I ask. I’m grinning as I remember a book that Penny, Bridget, and I just finished reading.
“What the hell is the cowboy hat rule?” he asks.
“You don't wear a guy’s cowboy hat unless you plan on sleeping with him,” I say, simplifying it.
“In that case, yes, getting on another guy’s bike is exactly like that. And you got on the back of my bike, so that makes you mine. I plan on claiming my prize,” he says with a smirk before placing another soft kiss on my lips. “Now go meet up with your friends and be safe.”
Walking to the bar where Penny and Bridget's location says they are, I have a spring in my step. But suddenly I realize that six p.m. tomorrow seems like an eternity away.