Chapter Six
Riley
At the end of the day, their ride back to the clubhouse was uneventful.
On the long straight stretch, Riley twisted her throttle and pulled closer to Dan, leaning near enough she could rest an elbow on his thigh.
She held her throttle steady and front wheel straight and glanced up at him.
He stared at the road ahead, reaching across with his left hand and covering hers.
He looked like they could ride forever like that, and she would.
Riley would trust him with her forever. I can see that.
They rolled through the gate, and she listened to the rattle of metal as it closed behind them.
She parked next to Dan, farthest to the right on the front row, same as they’d done last night.
Riley followed him into the clubhouse and went immediately to the room she’d been given, not wanting to cause trouble in the main room.
Enough eyes had scanned her from boobs to ass and back again that she thought pulling herself away was the better of all options.
The room looked exactly as she’d left it. Even the tricky parts Riley’d set up to know if anyone messed with her stuff. No one had bothered anything, and that left her feeling warm, like a slow hug of relief.
She untied her boots and toed them off, leaving them tumbled next to her bag of clothes. The room didn’t come with a dresser, so in her bag they stayed. She sat on the edge of the bed and brought both feet up so her arms were around her knees, and she stared out the small window at the stars.
A while later, there was a knock at her door, and she was off the bed in a flash and pulling the door open fast enough to startle Dan, who barked out a laugh.
“Just me,” he said softly. “Nothing to be afraid of.” He moved inside the room and closed the door behind him.
“Oh, Raggedy Dan, you’re not so scary. My response was more that I was hoping it’d be you.”
She stepped close enough to smell leather and the faint trace of their ride home still on him. Riley reached up, hooked a finger under the edge of his bandana, and tugged it down slowly.
His scars looked so much worse up close. She thought they were beautiful in a brutal way, like lightning frozen mid-strike across his jaw and cheek. She traced one ridge with her thumb, eliciting a shiver from him.
“You don’t have to hide from me.”
Dan’s throat worked. “You don’t know what you’re asking.”
“I know exactly what I’m asking.” She rose on her toes and brushed her lips across the worst of the scarring, keeping the touch soft, deliberate, with no hesitation. “I see you, Dan. All of you.”
For a heartbeat he was statue-still. Then his hands came up, cupping her face like she was made of glass, and he kissed her like a man who’d forgotten he was allowed to want things. It was deep, hungry, and a little desperate.
When they broke apart, both were breathing hard. His eyes were dark, pupils blown wide.
“Lock the door behind me,” he said roughly.
Riley smiled slowly, wickedly. “Or?”
“Or I won’t be standing guard outside it.”
She reached past him, turned the deadbolt with a decisive click, and flicked off the light.
“I’d rather you stay in here, Raggedy Dan. Let me show you what these hands can really do.”
***
Dan
The room was dark except for the pale silver of moonlight slipping through the blinds. Dan didn’t need light to feel her. Every inch of her was pressed against him, warm and sure and brave. Fucking fearless woman.
First time was fast, urgent, almost frantic. Clothes hit the floor in a hurry. The only pause was when she’d touched his bare dick to feed it into her pussy, and he held back.
She said, “I have long-term birth control. I’m tested for the shop annually.
I’m okay with it if you are.” He liked that she’d left it up to him, and he showed her exactly how okay he was with it by surging inside.
Her hands mapped every scar like she was memorizing them, her mouth following close behind.
He tried to be careful, apparently too careful, because she wrapped her legs around his hips and whispered, “Harder. I won’t break.”
So he gave her what she asked for and buried himself deep.
Released the restraints and let the years of holding back pound through him until that raging denial shattered against her skin.
She came first, her breathing turning sharp, shoulders shuddering, with her nails digging into his sides.
He followed seconds later, face buried in her neck, taking in the scent of her like it was oxygen after being too long underwater.
They lay there panting, sweat cooling, hearts hammering in tandem. His muscles burned in the best way.
She traced lazy circles on his chest. “Round one was a solid B-plus. Room for improvement.”
He huffed a laugh against her hair. “Critical.”
Second go at it was slower. He took his time to learn the spots that made her gasp, the rhythm that made her arch.
She was riding him, hands braced on his chest, hair falling like fire around them.
When she leaned down to kiss the worst of the burns on his face, something cracked open in his chest, feelings he’d kept locked away since the blast. Dan couldn’t bear to face them yet, he just couldn’t.
To create a tiny bit of space he flipped her, pinned her wrists gently above her head, and moved slowly enough to feel every tremor, every hitch in her breath.
When she came again, it was quieter, deeper, and even in the dim lighting he knew her eyes stayed locked on him the whole time.
He followed her over the edge, whispering her name like a prayer.
He couldn’t remember when sex had been so sensual, so complete.
It was like he hadn’t known how it could be. Riley was a revelation.
They collapsed together, tangled, breathing each other’s air.
Third round wasn’t about urgency or finesse.
It was just need—raw, honest, stripped down.
Face-to-face, legs entwined, hands everywhere.
She whispered filthy things in his ear until he groaned, then soothed him with soft kisses along his scars.
When they finally shattered together, it felt less like sex and more like surrender.
After, they lay in a sweaty, sated heap. Moonlight painted silver stripes across his ruined face.
She didn’t look away.
He liked that.
***
Riley
Riley curled against his side, head on his chest, listening to the steady thump of his heart. Her fingers drifted over raised lines on his shoulder, the ones that disappeared under ink.
Dan’s voice came low, rough from everything they’d done. “I haven’t really let anyone see my face for any length of time in five years.”
She tilted her head to look at him. “Not even the club?”
“Not like this. Not uncovered. Not for longer than a moment or two.” He swallowed.
“After the blast, the docs kept telling me it would get better. That scars faded with time. Therapy. Grafts. Nothing they claimed actually came to fruition. People stared. Kids cried. Women were the worst. They’d try to be kind, but I could see it.
The flinch followed immediately by the pity.
Life became easier when I decided to cover up.
Let ‘em see the mask instead of the monster.”
“You’re not a monster,” she said quietly.
He gave a small, bitter laugh. “You haven’t seen it in daylight yet.”
“I have too. You know I have. And I’ve seen it tonight. I’ve touched it. Kissed it.” She propped herself on one elbow and stared down at him. “And I’m still here.”
His hand came up, thumb brushing her cheek. “You’re not scared of much, are you?”
“Plenty. Just not you.”
Silence stretched, soft and safe.
Finally he spoke again, voice barely above a whisper. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For seeing me.” He pulled her down, kissed her slow, lips lingering together. “For staying.”
Riley settled back against him, leg thrown over his hip. “Get used to it, Raggedy Dan. I don’t scare easy.”
Outside the window, the soft wind whispered against the bars.
Inside, for the first time in years, neither of them felt alone.