BONUS SCENE
Otto
“You trying to wreck me, darlin’?” I gazed up at Raven as she came strutting through the door at the top of the stairway, wearing these itty-bitty cropped black pants that hugged every one of her curves and a frilly red blouse that harkened from the fifties. Black hair done up in a bandana and that sexpot mouth painted red.
Perfect little pinup that knocked me straight in the guts.
She gave a little curtsy and a jut of her hip. “Do you think I’m not going to dress up for my Burly Bear when he told me he was taking me somewhere special?”
“Baby, you could wear a sack, and I’d still think you were the most beautiful thing in the world. Or wear nothing at all…”
I let the teasing innuendo wind in with the words.
A sexy grin tugged at the edge of her mouth. “While I know how much you like me naked, I’m pretty sure riding through town on the back of your bike like that would maybe draw a little too much attention.”
Possession wound through me, and I grunted a dark sound. “That’s right. That tight little body is just for me. Wouldn’t want to have to go gouging every fucker’s eyes out for looking at my woman.”
That midnight gaze flared with amusement, except there was something deeper in it that worried I might not be teasing.
Probably wasn’t. I would probably go on a fuckin’ rampage if anyone even had the audacity of looking at her. But fuck, how could they not? The woman was stunning.
Steal your heart right out of your chest stunning.
Didn’t mean the beast wouldn’t come out. Had tried to hide him from her for so long, but no more.
She knew exactly who I was, inside and out. Somehow, she still loved me just the same.
Raven started down the stairs. Every step she took in those killer heels rolled through me on a landslide.
Woman an earthquake.
My fuckin’ everything.
Anticipation twisted my stomach. I couldn’t wait to make that permanent.
“And just where are you taking me?” she asked as she hit the bottom landing of the garage. She sauntered toward me, swaying those hips, knowing exactly what she did to me as she approached.
Cock kicking at the sight and my heart feeling like it was going to jump right out of my chest to get to her.
I leaned against my bike, trying to act smooth as fuck, even though she had me shaking. I was sure she was going to more than like this surprise, but still, I was nervous as hell.
“Wouldn’t be a surprise if I told you, now, would it?” I notched my palm up on the sharp curve of her cheek, fingertips slipping along the delicate flesh of her neck that never failed to drive me out of my mind.
Fire striking up at the contact.
“I mean, I can call it off if you want?” I arched a playful brow.
She smacked my chest with the back of her hand. “Otto Hudson, you wouldn’t dare.”
A chuckle rolled out, and I grabbed her by the arm and hauled her up to me. I released a contented sigh at the feel of that delicious body against mine. “Nah, baby, I wouldn’t dare,” I rumbled into her ear before I pulled back. “Now get that sweet ass on the back of my bike before I have to put you there.”
“So bossy.”
I gave a gentle swat to her pert, perfect ass. Raven jumped with a squeak.
My voice dropped low as I leaned in, close to a growl, the words at her mouth, “Just the way you like me.”
I snagged her helmet from where it hung on the handlebars, eyes on her the whole time as I placed it on her head then buckled the straps.
Energy swirled around us. Affection burning so bright she was the only thing I could see.
I swung my leg over my bike, then reached out a hand to help Raven swing over, too. She tucked that tempting body up against my back, arms wrapping tight around my waist, her voice shifting to a murmur, no teasing remaining. “I like you every way, Burly Bear.”
My heart nearly jumped out of my chest, this love so big that it was impossible to contain it. I clamped my hand around the outside of her thigh, giving a light squeeze as I rumbled, “I like you every way, too, baby. Every single way.”
A beat of awed silence thrummed between us before I kicked my bike over. It came to life with a roar, and I pulled back the throttle a couple of times, revving it before I used my boots to roll the bike out backward. I thumbed into my phone and pushed the button to close the garage door, before I turned and took to the dirt drive.
Raven clung tight to me as I maneuvered along the road that dipped down the side of the ravine and back up the other side before I made a right onto the two-lane street that wound higher into the mountains.
I could feel Raven stir with excitement. The uncertainty of where I was taking her and what we were doing.
I pulled back on the throttle, careful not to take it too fast since I had the most precious cargo, but I also knew the way my girl felt about being on the back of my bike.
Free.
It was the place where the two of us had always let go. The heavy metal vibrating below us, the deep brawl of the powerful engine, two of us tucked so close together it felt like we were one.
I’d never felt it more than right then.
Free.
Cool wind lapping across our faces and a few strands of her hair that had gotten loose whipping around us. Her moonflower scent all around, amplified by the clear, forest air.
Peace echoing back.
Soaring pines hugged tight to the road, peaks spiking up against the clear blue sky.
I took the curves at a careful clip. I could almost feel the weight of Raven’s smile. Getting to be like this with me. And fuck me, there was nothing better in the world than riding on her exhilaration. The feel of her happiness that radiated and pulsed and lifted me up. The woman my buoy.
We rode for about fifteen minutes before I slowed and pulled off onto a dirt road that was basically hidden in the foliage, little more than a worn path that cut through the woods. Rays of sunlight struck down through the breaks in the leaves, warming our faces against the cool breeze that filtered through.
I could feel Raven gasp when we finally broke through the forest to the meadow that rambled out in front of us.
What had to be a million wildflowers in every color grew in the field that stretched on for about a hundred yards before it gave way to the high cliffs in the distance.
Far below, the lake glinted beneath the piercing rays of the summer sun.
I killed the engine, and it plunged us into the deepest sort of silence I thought we’d ever experienced.
A shouting of solace. A whisper of understanding and awe and the starkest kind of gratitude.
Both of us had fought so hard to get to this place.
To a place of beauty.
To a place of rest.
Battling our demons that had forever tried to hold us back.
I placed my hand over the two of hers that were locked around my waist. My breaths were heavy as I silently promised I would fight hers forever.
And I could only hope, right now, she would accept it.
Raven
“I’ve never seen anything so beautiful.” I could barely get the words out with how thick my throat had become, my fingers trembling as I undid the strap on my helmet and let it drop to the soft earth. Emotion crested as I stared out over the sea of wildflowers and the lake far below it in the distance.
“Ah, darlin’,” Otto murmured as he helped me off his bike, his voice slipping between playful and worship. “I certainly have.”
Reaching out, I dragged my fingertips down the rugged side of his cheek, over the stubble he was allowing to grow in thicker.
The man sat at the helm of his bike. God, he might as well have been carved from it. So hulking and fierce. Wearing a tight white tee, jeans, and his motorcycle boots, his arms still stretched out and holding onto the handlebars. All that colorful ink danced above his strength.
“Maybe I take it back,” I whispered.
Because, oh my God, the man was gorgeous.
I was never getting over it.
A thrill rolled through me.
And He. Was. Mine.
Otto grabbed my hand and kissed along my knuckles. Fire streaked at the brush of his plush lips. “Nah, baby, we know exactly who’s the beautiful one. Just had to bring you out here so you could see the second most beautiful thing I’ve ever found. Second wonder of the world.”
The tease danced across his harsh brow.
Wings fluttered in my belly.
I hiked a flirty shoulder. “Oh, is that the only thing you brought me out here for? Just to show me the second wonder of the world?”
“Yeah, now that you’ve seen it, guess we’d better go. Hop back on.”
Confusion dented my brow, then I giggled when I saw the playfulness swim through his features.
“Otto Hudson, you are such a punk. Tell me you didn’t just bring me out here for five seconds?”
A rough chuckle rolled from his chest, and he swung off his bike, coming to his full, towering height.
My insides trembled.
He was the true marvel.
Better than any of my heroes that I read.
Real and whole and right in front of me.
“No, my sweet little Moonflower. I didn’t just bring you out here to see it for five seconds. I brought you out here because I have something important to do.” His tone shifted from easy to intense, and my heart thudded just a little harder.
“What’s that?” I asked.
Otto turned away and worked through the buckle on the saddlebag of his bike, and he produced a blanket from one side and a small basket from another.
“A picnic?” I squealed, pretty much dancing on my feet, my heels sinking into the damp dirt.
Okay, so maybe I wasn’t wearing the best shoes for this, but I knew exactly the way my man looked at me when I came out of our room wearing them.
Besides, he didn’t tell me he was taking me out to the most gorgeous meadow in the deepest part of the forest.
Otto suddenly leaned down and swooped me over his shoulder without warning.
My grin was unending as he carried me closer to the edge of the cliffs, though he remained safe enough away so I wouldn’t be nervous.
He settled me onto my feet, and he spread the blanket out, the most delectable smirk hitching one side of his mouth as he looked over at me.
His hungry gaze devouring.
Then that smirk was slipping away, and his expression turned severe.
Fierce and intense and roiling with the kind of love that I’d been worried I’d never find. Except it had always been right there, ready to blaze between us.
The big brute had just needed to accept it.
Accept that we were meant for each other. That our love was bigger than anything I ever hoped could exist.
“Raven. I brought you out here because I stumbled on this place a couple of years ago. It stole my breath when I came hiking through the woods and this was just…here.”
He lifted his massive arms out to the sides. “Like, how the fuck was it possible that something this beautiful could be hidden away in the middle of nowhere?”
His blue eyes creased at the sides. “Immediately, I thought of you, Raven Tayte. Just fuckin’ smacked in the face with how it felt like a symbol of you. The flowers. The peace. The way it just radiated this hope that didn’t really exist for me. The way I’d kept my love for you hidden away.”
Affection squeezed my chest. So tight and overwhelming. Moisture bleared my eyes.
“But when I touch you, Raven, that’s what I feel. Peace. Hope. All the things I never thought I’d have or deserve. But you showed me that I do. That I can hope and love and cherish. And I will be doing that forever. Cherishing you.”
Otto began to slowly kneel. The action ripped the oxygen from my lungs.
“Otto…” His name was a wisp.
The hint of a grin pulled at his mouth, and his eyes swam with both mirth and severity as he stuffed his hand into his pocket.
Oh, oh, oh. Was he…?
It was.
It was a ring.
My head spun, and I struggled to remain upright.
“I was just hoping that maybe you wouldn’t mind if we put a name to it because I think I’d really like to call you wife?”
There was no more standing. I fumbled to my knees on the blanket in front of him, gasping and choking and nodding frantically as I threw my arms around his neck. “Yes! Are you kidding me? A million times, yes.”
Tears soaked his shirt as I clung to him, and he curled me in the strength of his arms.
His arms he’d promised to always hold me with.
“Yes.” That time it was a murmur. A whisper from my soul. The love for him I’d held for so long no longer chained or marred or a dirty secret. “Yes.”
Otto edged me back. Emotion carved every line of his handsome face, and I couldn’t stop the tears from falling, the way my mouth was tugging down on the side as I was overwhelmed by the flood of adoration that poured from him.
He held the ring up, and I blinked, trying to focus on it.
“It’s so pretty,” I whispered. This man knew me so well. The antique relic was made of black gold with a marquee-cut black diamond in the middle. The band was woven of threads that were shaped in the most delicate flowers, each accented by a small white diamond in the middle.
“You like it?” A hint of worry dimmed his voice.
I shook my head as I tipped my gaze up at him. My heart crashed in my chest at the sight. Overcome by the complete devotion that gushed from him. “I love it, Otto Hudson, but not nearly as much as I love you. Now are you going to put that gorgeous ring on my finger or what?”
He heaved out in relief, his own smile tweaking and twisting as he took my trembling hand and carefully slid on the ring. “There. Right where it belongs.”
Then he set his big palm on my cheek, his thumb brushing slowly as he murmured, “First wonder of the world.”
My teeth clamped down on my bottom lip. There was no containing the joy that rushed and rippled through the meadow.
Though, in it, I found the tease, “I guess you really are obsessed with me after all.”
Otto suddenly tackled me to the ground, a squeal of glee ripping out of me as he pinned me to the ground, before he brushed his fingers down the angle of my jaw and across my lips.
“Oh, Little Moonflower, you have no idea…”
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