11. - Corey -
Chapter eleven
- Corey -
C orey and Kayden made their way to the single red bike, the Rover sitting behind it.
Kayden put his helmet on first, and then lifted one long leg over to straddle the bike, his thick quads straining against the denim of his jeans. The movement felt decidedly sexual to Corey.
“Have you ridden before?”
“No.”
“Slide on behind me and hold my waist. With all the noise from the engine, it will be hard to hear you once we’re riding. How about three taps if you need me to pull over?”
“Okay.” Corey agreed.
Kayden started up the bike, and the roar of the engine echoed right through her.
Corey put on the helmet and got on the bike. She hesitantly snaked her arms around Kayden’s waist. She felt the hard muscles of his abdomen and the heat of his skin emanating from under the thin cotton of his shirt. Kayden reach back and pulled her closer towards him. She slid forward on the leather seat, her front pressed up against his back, the bike a steady, vibrating beast beneath her. She tried to ignore the physical sensation of her inner thighs pressed against his strong legs, but the cadence of the engine with her legs spread wide was undeniably pleasurable.
Kayden turned the bike out of its spot and with the first burst of speed, Corey’s grip on him tightened.
Kayden took them out of the garage, and the plastic sheet of her helmet darkened, allowing her to keep her eyes open with the harsh rays of the midday sun. Kayden wove through the traffic seamlessly. She realized suddenly that she wasn’t sure what day it was.
He kept the bike at an unreasonably fast speed, blasting through traffic lights like he didn’t have a care in the world, barely slowing down on the turns. Corey held on to Kayden for dear life, taking in the city she’d been watching from high in her glass tower like some omnificent god.
Kayden had been right. Between the roaring of the wind around her head and the deep noise of the bike, Corey’s ears were only protected by the helmet dulling the decibels of the sound, the hat just an extra layer between her and the rest of the world.
Sooner than she would have thought possible, they were out of the city, on a large country highway she didn’t recognize. As they zipped along, the forest growing lusher and the trees getting taller, Corey relaxed.
The thrill was quickly building, her heart racing, a terrifying weightlessness in her stomach. And as Kayden maneuvered the bike around a turn in the road—too fast, she thought—Corey appreciated why some people chose this, chose to risk it all for the excitement of the ride.
After the turn, Kayden reached back, running his hand up along her thigh. She shivered under his touch.
They were on miles of straight highway.
Kayden brought his hand to hers where it was clutching his top, and she loosened the vice of her grip. He laced his gloved fingers through hers, and she let him. He squeezed her hand, and she didn’t let herself think too hard about it before she squeezed back.
Corey had been smiling so big for so long that her cheeks began to ache. Once she recognized the ache in those muscles, the ache in her leg muscles settled in. She tried not to think about a deeper ache, down in her core, that had been growing steadily with every shudder of the bike.
They were far out of the city now. They’d been following a white-capped river for some time, engorged from all the rain in the last month.
There was a pull-off up ahead.
Corey tapped the inside of Kayden's leg three times, following the instructions given to her.
She had to stop herself from trailing her fingers up his leg and cupping him in her hand. With her hands so close to the zipper of his jeans for the last few hours, it had been a subtle yearning in the back of her mind.
Kayden and his brother were gorgeous. She couldn’t deny the attraction she had to both of them. And yes, Jason was probably right to accuse her of teasing them. The effect she had on Kayden, when she was naked on their own balcony, was clear. He drank her in like he was dying of thirst in the desert. He was still the man covered in blood with a gun trained on her, but now the gun was his attention, and it was unwavering. The hunger radiating off him at all hours of the day had her toes curling in her shoes and her cheeks flushing.
The bike slowed to a smooth stop by the guardrail. Kayden’s feet landed on the ground, stabilizing the bike, and Corey slid off. They each removed their helmets as Kayden cut the engine. The vibrations from the bike fizzled out, but a rough energy was still thrumming through her. It had been weeks since she’d been able to go for a run, and she was itching for it.
Instead, she turned to the river. The water was frothing at the maw as it broke against the boulders in its path. Mist was rising, the water droplets kissing her cheeks, her forehead, finding purchase in her hair. She leaned over a little more, breathing in the earthy sweetness of the wet rocks below.
Kayden pressed himself against her back, his gloved hands settling beside her own on the cold metal of the guardrail, caging her in for a second time that day. He nuzzled into her temple, the heat of his breath warming her chilled skin.
“You want to go for a swim?” he murmured in her ear, just audible over the roaring of the water beside them.
“Don’t you fucking dare.”
He chuckled, and she felt the deep vibrato of it move right through her, an echo of the engine. She turned in his arms, looking up at him. The sharp edges of his cheekbones were wet from the mist. His deep green eyes reflected the foliage all around them. His black hair fell across his forehead, in complete disarray from the helmet.
She couldn’t stop herself; she reached her hand up, brushing his hair back. His pupils dilated.
“It’s peaceful out here. Don’t ruin this for me, please?” she asked him.
Maybe it was the first time she’d asked him for something. It was probably the first time she’d used the word please. It wasn’t a word she used often. She was used to having to take what she wanted.
“Well, when you ask so nicely, I’m inclined to oblige.” Kayden’s eyes were blazing. “I guess you can behave after all.”
Corey smiled, leaning away from him, and in a brazen act of insanity, she flicked his nose. “Don’t get used it.”
Kayden snapped his teeth at her fingers, but she was already turning to the river again.
“I wouldn’t dare,” he said into her hair.
They watched the river in peaceful silence, Kayden’s arms still bracketed around her.
“Do you want to stop to get anything before heading back to the condo?” Kayden asked her out of nowhere .
“You very well know I don’t have any money.”
“We could go pick some of your stuff up, so you have what you need while we sort this situation out?” Kayden’s suggestion was tentative. It also made no sense to Corey.
“That’s not possible.” Stopping at Brandon’s on Kayden’s motorcycle was the absolute worst idea she’d ever heard. Someone would end up dead. It wasn’t like she had anything worthwhile back there, anyway. She’d love her phone and her headphones, but that was about it.
“Why not?”
She ignored her confusion about him pressing the issue and responded with the truth. “I lived at my ex’s. I didn’t exactly leave on very good terms.” Given that Corey had snuck out through a window after he’d locked her in their bedroom for two days, it was an understatement.
Corey felt Kayden stiffen behind her.
“Did he kick you out? Is that why you were on the streets?” His voice had taken on a dangerous tone that she wanted to diffuse.
“No, I left myself, actually.”
“Is that who you thought would come looking for you? Where does he live?”
“Enough with the 21 Questions. I won’t go back there.”
“I will.”
“You’re not going there either!” Corey turned in his arms again, giving him a pointed stare to indicate she was serious.
He looked like he had more to say on the matter, but he surprised her with his acquiescence. “Fine. What do you need, then? I’ll take you shopping. It’s on me.”
“Are you serious? You want to take me shopping?” Corey said, incredulous.
“I want to do a lot of things with you, Corey. I thought that had become awfully apparent.” His hand came up to her neck, and he ran his thumb over the slight cut he’d made with the knife. Corey could barely suppress her shiver, her body reciprocating his desire.
“Headphones. Something to play music on. Some clothes and shampoo. A book or two would be nice. That’s really all I need.” She’d deal with their escalating mutual attraction later, but she wouldn’t pass up the offer.
“A simple girl.” Kayden laughed, backing away from her, his physical contact already missed. The helmet he put back on did nothing to hide the expression on his face. Corey followed him back onto the bike, feeling slight whiplash over how the day had progressed, but smiling nonetheless.
Silver linings , she reminded herself.